D: Ferne Pearlstein | USA | 85 min | REGIONAL PREMIERE
The Last Laugh proceeds from the premise that the Holocaust would seem to be an absolutely off-limits topic for comedy. But is it? History shows that even the victims of the Nazi concentration camps themselves used humor as a means of survival and resistance. Still, any use of comedy in connection with this horror risks diminishing the suffering of millions. So where is the line? Mel Brooks, Rob Reiner, Sarah Silverman, David Steinberg and others raise the question that if we make the Holocaust off limits, what are the implications for other controversial subjects – 9/11, AIDS, racism – in a society that prizes freedom of speech?
