I Sa Lo Movies

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. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This intelligent film is also rollicking, slapstick farce and musical comedy. It tells the story of a large extended family involved in all phases of the music business, from classical to pop. As the story unfolds, an eccentric music publisher (Otto Sander), his wife, mistress, and daughter (Angelica Milster) live in a Berlin villa. Newly welcomed into the family fold is their recently discovered relative Rita (I Sa Lo), who is simultaneously a stepdaughter and a half-sister. Rita's fondness for the band "The Coconuts" brings two of their players, Rod (Roderick Melven) and Franz (Franz Hummel), into the villa. The hijinks grow fast and furious when a long-lost Chopin piano piece is discovered. Filled with musical spoofs and brilliant pastiches of classical works, as well as send-ups of the pop music world of the time (1975), this movie also finds time to spoof surrealism. One highlight is the deadpan pianistic comedy of concert pianist Franz Hummel, who composed the phony Chopin piece. Angelika Milster's ragtime improvisations in this film won an Ernst Lubitsch Film Prize. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi