AllMovie

The odd slant on life possessed by one of the original surrealists and premiere "constructivist" artist Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) gives form to this homage to the master of absurdism. Duchamp occasionally used the pseudonym "Rrose Selavy," which, without the extra "r," reads (in French) "Rose, c'est la vie" or "Rose, that's life." In this film, an actor/actress of indeterminate gender, I Sa Lo, travelling as Rrosy Selavy, flies to New York carrying a chessboard, which s/he promptly takes to Duchamp's favored spot in Washington Square. There, s/he interviews all sorts of real-life Greenwich Village weirdos and celebrities, including John Cage. Eventually s/he meets an insane psychiatrist, and from then on her visit goes sour.