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Taxi to the Toilet

Play trailer 1:23 Poster for Taxi to the Toilet Now Playing 1h 34m Comedy LGBTQ+ Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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95% Tomatometer 22 Reviews 60% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
A gay German schoolteacher (Frank Ripploh) enjoys a hedonistic lifestyle.
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Critics Reviews

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Taxi zum Klo is an unsparingly honest film, documentary matched with (I assume) docudrama, in which Ripploh reveals himself fearlessly. Rated: 3.5/4 Nov 6, 2018 Full Review Bruce McCabe Boston Globe Taxi is an unusual film which demands a lot of its viewers. Some will resent those demands. But it's a film that is too uninhibited, too honest, too good, too well made, to ignore or dismiss. It deserves to be seen. Apr 28, 2018 Full Review Melissa Anderson Village Voice Taxi zum Klo treats sex seriously without sacralizing it; throughout the film, Ripploh reveals a wry intelligence about the eternal dilemma of monogamy versus promiscuity. Sep 5, 2017 Full Review Carmen Paddock MovieJawn Vivid, boisterous, and uncompromising, Taxi zum Klo is a fearlessly personal look at a queer life fully captured in its unglamorous present. Aug 9, 2025 Full Review Steve Erickson Gay City News It’s an unusual blend, combining a comic look at romance between two men with a confrontational attitude that puts explicit sex at the forefront. Jul 31, 2025 Full Review John Paul King Washington Blade While we may thrill at recognizing ourselves in its seminal portrait of liberated gay sexuality, it’s the still-potent longing to reconcile our conflicted impulses that speaks to us most urgently. Jul 31, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Stephen C Funny pride in 1 hour and 34 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In German and American English audio versions with American English subtitles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dubbed and subtitled in worldwide studios!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/05/25 Full Review 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 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 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 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 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 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Taxi to the Toilet

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Movie Info

Synopsis A gay German schoolteacher (Frank Ripploh) enjoys a hedonistic lifestyle.
Director
Frank Ripploh
Producer
Frank Ripploh, Horst Schier, Laurens Straub
Screenwriter
Frank Ripploh
Distributor
Promovision International
Production Co
Exportfilm Bischoff & Company
Genre
Comedy, LGBTQ+, Drama
Original Language
German
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 2, 1981, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Aug 1, 2025
Release Date (DVD)
Feb 5, 2003
Runtime
1h 34m