First, I have to mention how I came to view this film. I'm American, with a nephew who lives in Siberia (he owns several coffee shops in Novosibirsk) . Anyway, on his last visit he gave me a few Russian DVDs to enjoy. Two were action adventure films (a revenge drama and Russian Mafia hit-man film). The third was this film. I had no idea what it was about, since the words on the box cover were totally in Russian (note: the DVD wouldn't even play on an American DVD player, but my laptop accommodated me). Fortunately it had English subtitles. The title of the film in my subtitles, however, was "Moving", not "In Movement".
At first, I thought it was going to be another action film about a reporter getting in over his head with the mob, but as it turned out, it was a very polished character study about a man in search of something (though he may not know it)that will give his life worth. Through his work, his friends, and especially , in the arms of many different women, he tries to achieve this, though it takes a while for this theme to become apparent. As was mentioned in the synopsis, this film has some elements of La Dolce Vita, as well as Antonioni's Blow Up, both dealing with characters who need to get in touch with themselves as well as connect to others. A refreshing film, since I haven't seen a character study of this caliber (hes not totally likable)since Five Easy Pieces. I must also mention a scene toward the end of this film involving the main character, a train, and a woman on a horse, that is not only a brilliant piece of visual storytelling, but metaphor for the character's predicament, as well as a signature shot for the entire film. I was totally blown away by the shot, and , believe me, jaded as I am after so many years of movie watching, that isn't easy to do. But its the hope of seeing such scenes that keeps me watching films. My explanation of the scene isn't too specific, and thats because it has to be seen, which I know will be hard for many, considering the difficulty one will have finding a copy of this film, but its worth it....
