French director Luc Besson has emerged as the most popular filmmaker among Russian moviegoers in a new study conducted by online streaming service KION. The survey findings, made available to the National News Service, ranked directors whose works are chosen most frequently by streaming subscribers across Russia.
Besson, known internationally for action and science fiction cinema, topped the overall rankings by outpacing Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg by nearly 50 percent in total audience size. Audience selection for Besson was driven primarily by three of his feature films: Dracula, Anna and Subway.
Cronenberg, a director famed for psychological thrillers and body horror films, secured second place in the survey, with his drama A Dangerous Method acting as the main driver for his viewing figures. American director Martin Scorsese and Soviet comedy legend Leonid Gaidai virtually tied for third and fourth places, separated by a paper-thin margin of just 0.01 percent.
Viewers watching Scorsese's catalog chose his psychological thriller Shutter Island, the historical drama Silence and the crime epic Gangs of New York most frequently. For Gaidai, who directed many of the most famous comedies in Soviet cinema, audiences showed the highest interest in his classic films Bootleggers and The Diamond Arm.
Top directors and viewing trends
New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson, best known for directing epic fantasy blockbusters, rounded out the top five rankings on the strength of his feature film King Kong. The remaining top positions were filled by Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven, American director David Fincher, Italian auteur Paolo Sorrentino, Australian director Baz Luhrmann and American filmmaker Brian De Palma.
The streaming platform KION compiled the study to coincide with the birthday of British American director Christopher Nolan, following a noticeable surge in viewer engagement. During the global promotional campaign for Nolan's film The Odyssey, views for movies dealing with ancient myths, legends and historical epochs grew fivefold compared to the previous week.
Film critic Roman Grigoryev told the National News Service that Nolan's The Odyssey stands out as a unique cinematic project. Grigoryev explained that the film is notable not only because audiences do not know what to expect from the story, but also due to its massive scale and innovative technical solutions that have never been applied in cinema before.
