Directed by Ferne Pearlstein
USA | Documentary | 2016 | 88 min
Film Source: Film Collaborative
Sponsor: UVM Hillel
Showtime: Sunday, October 23 | 3:45 p.m. | FH
Director Ferne Pearlstein & Producer Robert Edwards will be in attendance.
Can comics make jokes about the Holocaust? This documentary by Ferne Pearlstein — featuring Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner and Larry Charles — explores the often unspoken rules of humor and bad taste. Who gets to decide what is funny and what is offensive? The comics? The Holocaust survivors? The audience? In her search for answers, Pearlstein casts far and wide, from a Holocaust survivors’ meeting to newly discovered footage of the Jerry Lewis comedy film that takes place at a concentration camp, The Day the Clown Cried, which Lewis has never allowed to be shown publicly. The Last Laugh will make you laugh. How you feel about that laughter is up to you. Pearlstein digs deep into the issues, but lets the audience make up its own mind. ~JS