Audience Member
A ground breaking film to challenge the taboo of the German culture. Made with a shoestring budget, Taxi Zum Klo is a marvelous film looking at the struggles Ripploh himself faces as a public school teacher in the day, but an active hustler at night. The explicit content was sure to shock many, I thought the use of jumpcuts with vintage pornography was quite a clever twist in terms of editing. Taxi Zum Klo was also hilarious to watch with its use of awkward comedy. Perhaps not for everyone but certainly an interesting piece of art house gem.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/01/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Pioneering work of queer cinema, written and directed by Frank Ripploh, who also plays the lead role, a slightly fictionalized version of himself. By day he's a beloved schoolteacher, devoted to his students; by night (and sometimes on lunchbreaks) he trolls the local leather bars, bath houses, and public bathrooms of downtown Berlin (the film makes excellent use of seedy locations), living the life of a sexual thrill-seeker. He eventually finds a man whom he thinks could be the love of his life, but it's hard for him to let go of his habitual promiscuity, even though it endangers his new relationship and eventually starts to affect other aspects of his life, including his job. A simple, character-driven drama made with little money and lots of ingenuity. While it is flawed, it's fascinating, and Ripploh (who died of cancer in 2002) is to be commended for portraying himself so frankly on film at a time when homosexuality was still considered unnatural and even criminal. The sex, when it appears, is quite graphic (some would say, not entirely unreasonably, pornographic), but this is not a 'sex film'; rather, it is a funny, honest, and strangely engaging study of one man's struggle to find a happy medium between the freedom he cherishes and the love he has finally found in another man. Interesting but challenging cinema here, folks!
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/25/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Hermosa, divertida, honesta; una joya del cine alemán. La encuentran completica en Youtube.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/26/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Tiene por momentos una atmósfera genial.
El cinismo del protagonista, director, lo es todo esta película es decir vivo la vida como yo quiero!
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/13/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Frank Ripploh as the autobiographical, promiscuous man takes a taxi from the hospital to find sex in a park. The scene could be dark comedy or bittersweet drama since he's contagious and has no thoughts for others. Also, as a school teacher, he's not rich enought to be so careless about spending money carelessly. This scene underlines everything that's charming, ambiguous, and wrong about "Taxi Sum Klo." An original German movie that tries to underscore the theme of monogamy vs promiscuity but the screenplay doesn't delve deeply into this theme.
Overall, it's a charming, non-judgmental, x-rated movie that is intriguing to watch. The classroom scenes remind me of Diane Keaton's superior performance in "Looking for Mr. Goodbar." Not to everyone's taste but I did like Frank (or Peggy as his trans friend calls him) and, at least, he seems human even if he's narcissistic. The final scene in the classroom is dumb and I wish the movie had prepared us for Frank's motivation or objective. Instead, he looks in the mirror or drives by night and narrates his thoughts.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/20/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Interesting if only because of the depiction of pre-AIDS gay life in Berlin. Essential. Has a lot of potential, but doesn't quite achieve what it set out to do.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
Full Review
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