| The Last Laugh | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ferne Pearlstein |
| Written by | Robert Edwards Ferne Pearlstein |
| Cinematography | Anne Etheridge Ferne Pearlstein |
| Edited by | Ferne Pearlstein |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Last Laugh is a 2016 American documentary film directed by Ferne Pearlstein about whether jokes about the Holocaust can ever be funny. [1]
Is the Holocaust funny? This documentary looks at the taboo topic of humor, delving deep into pop-culture to find out where to draw the line, and whether that is a desirable—or even possible—goal. Much of the film is centered around Auschwitz survivor Renée Firestone who discusses humor in the concentration camps and finding enjoyment in life after the war.
The Last Laugh premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 18, 2016. [2]
The Last Laugh has earned very high critical praise. [3] [4] The film has a score of 98% on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 46 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Last Laugh takes a fresh -- and unexpectedly funny -- approach to sensitive subject matter, uncovering affecting insights about the nature of comedy along the way." [5]
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Renée Firestone is a Hungarian-Jewish survivor of the Holocaust and educator, who became known for her fashion designs in the 1960s after she immigrated to the United States.
There are several major aspects of humor related to the Holocaust: humor of the Jews in Nazi Germany and in Nazi concentration and extermination camps, a specific kind of "gallows humor"; German humor on the subject during the Nazi era; the appropriateness of this kind of off-color humor in modern times; modern anti-Semitic sick humor.
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Ferne Pearlstein is an American cinematographer, film director, producer, and editor. She has directed such documentary films as Sumo East and West (2003) and The Last Laugh (2016), and served as cinematographer on such documentaries as Imelda (2003) and Freakonomics (2010).
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