Frank is an elementary school teacher by day, and a sexual adventurer any time he is NOT at school. On one of his forays into the demimonde, he meets Bernd (played by the very appealing Bernd Broaderup) and falls in love. What follows is fairly typical of any love story, but it is in the details that Ripploh takes his audience into another world. Frank's love story is punctuated by sexual escapades that would have horrified Jane Austen. Added to this, Frank must come to terms with the increasing tension between his respectable job and his not so respectable but very exciting sex life. How Frank resolves this tension is simultaneously amusing and horrifying.

This film is not for prudes or the squeamish. The sex scenes are graphic and sometimes hard to watch. Also, it is obvious that the film was cheaply made, with gritty camera work and spotty sound quality. Still, the details draw the viewer in; you actually see how these people live (and where else do you see an old Karmann Ghia these days?). It is also eerie to see such lack of sexual restraint in a world on the brink of the HIV horror (Taxi zum Klo was released in 1981).

I was fascinated with this film in 1981 and I remain so in 2003. The only reason I gave this movie 3 stars instead of 4 is that the subtitles have an annoying tendency to disappear into the scenery. A passing familiarity with German would help fill in some of the gaps in legibility, but you will probably need several viewings to get all the plot points.

One comes away from this movie with feelings that only foreign films can provide. While Ripploh is no Kurosawa, de Sica, or Inagaki, he equals them in taking you to another world.

Great Film, Terrible DVD (Rating: 1.00)
Review : Don't buy this DVD! Very poor copy (fuzzy, weak color) of film (transfered from a VHS tape?). The subtitles (NOT removable) hard to read. No chapter stops. No extras except some equally fuzzy previews for other Cinevista products. Very disappointing cheap issue at a high price. Hopefully some other company will issue a proper version some day.

hot & cold (Rating: 3.00)
Review : It's difficult to rate this film. It conveys well the spirit of gay life in the late '70s and early 80s. But it has some scenes that are disgusting to watch, and it isn't the sexual ones. Also it made me realize that good pornography that has been cosmetically enhanced and done with photographic artistry makes sexual matters much more appealing than the rough, raw stuff in this film. If I could, I would give it 2stars for its appeal to me, and 4stars for the intentions of the artist, Ripploh.

"Taxi!!" (Rating: 4.00)
Review : Believe it or not this piece of German filmography translates as "Taxi to the toilet". It's basically a no holds barred account of the life of an "ordinary" gay man in a not so ordinary leather scene in 70's Deutschland.

Some of the scenes are a little shocking for the time and even now too, however the harder images are carefully filmed and work well with the general running of the movie.

To summarise: Actually quite a good, well acted, film but definitely for a mature audience.

(The DVD is in German language with removal English subtitles.)