His affinity for Euro arthouse cinema, his falling out with the Christian religion, and his fascination with the unsuccessful anti-occupation, pro-communist protest movement in postwar Japan shaped his unusual sensibilities. Recurring themes and aesthetics in his works include oppressive police states, unsuccessful protest movements, dysfunctional bureaucracies, political action that results in stasis, biblical scripture, and imagery, philosophical dilemmas, characters trapped in seemingly inescapable situations, the use of dialog as descriptive "texture" rather than a plot-driver, and otherwise Euro-arthouse pacing and storyboarding. He is both polarizing to mainstream audiences, and highly revered by cinephiles and Hollywood directors; his works have influenced Hollywood films such as Dark City, The Matrix, and Avatar.
