Information
- BFI identifierN-626783
- Date2016 (Production)
- Production company
- SynopsisIf the adage 'comedy is tragedy plus time' holds true, then nothing lies beyond the pale, including the Holocaust. Ferne Pearlstein's nuanced documentary is a thorough exploration of this and other forbidden topics. It features a roster of revealing and revelatory interviews with taboo-breaking comedians like Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman and Borat director Larry Charles, as well as clips from several infamous stand-up routines and films (including Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful, which Brooks regards as "the worst movie ever made"as well as his own The Producers and its then-notorious-now-socially-acceptable 'Springtime for Hitler' musical sequence). Crucially, Pearlstein balances the more outré moments with an intimate, quietly heart-breaking look at the lives of concentration camp survivors; from memories of the subtly subversive camp cabarets they held, to ongoing anxieties about humour that is seen to mock personal devastation and the idea that laughter is a necessary, humanising survival mechanism. (Synopsis)
- Credits
Title
The Last Laugh (Original)
Category
Non Fiction- Collections
No collections held by the BFI. This record is for information only.
- The Last Laugh
Work - N-626783 - 2016 (Production)
- Film - Non Fiction
No film or video materials are
held by the BFI National Archive
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