TAXI TO THE TOILET | TAXI ZUM KLO

WEST GERMANY | 1980 | COLOR | DCP | 90’ | GERMAN, ENGLISH, FRENCH

A teacher in ‘80s West Berlin enjoys relentlessly the pleasures of polygamy when monogamous Bernd enters his life. This doesn’t change his habits but creates a sort of an existential crisis. The semi-autobiographical debut by Frank Ripploh shocked censors with its pornographic range but the perspective is essentially other. His critical lens glorifies the contradiction, the sunshine of life against the drab, rainy Berlin, cruising with teaching (tests are marked at glory hole toilets) while the utter id wildness is accompanied with a hauntingly melancholic synth musical theme which gloomily underscores that perhaps happiness and pleasure don’t always mix. I.D.

DIRECTOR: Frank Ripploh
SCREENWRITER: Frank Ripploh
DoP: Horst Schier
MUSIC: Hans Wittstatt
EDITORS: Gela-Marina Runne, Matthias von Gunten
PRINCIPAL CAST: Frank Ripploh, Bernd Broaderup, Orpha Termin

FRANK RIPPLOH (1949-2002)
German director, actor and writer. He made history with this film which made an impact on the queer culture of its time —and further— becoming the mark of an era of gay liberation just before AIDS. He went on to collaborate with Rainer Werner Fassbinder in ‘Querelle’ co-signing an informal making of for the film.

FILMOGRAPHY
1987 Taxi to Cairo
1986 Miko: From the Gutter to the Stars
1982 The Wizard of Babylon
1980 Taxi to the Toilet