The Man Who Laughs

The action of Victor Hugo's novel "The Man Who Laughs" takes place in England in the late 17th - early 18th centuries. Gwynplaine is a lord by birth, sold as a child to the Comprachicos bandits, who made a fairground jester out of him, carving a mask of "eternal laughter" on his face (at the courts of the European nobility of that time there was a fashion for cripples and freaks to amuse the hosts and guests, the activities of the Comprachicos were sometimes even encouraged). Despite all the trials, Gwynplaine retained the best human qualities and his love. One of the famous film adaptations is the 1928 silent film directed by Paul Leni, in which the classic ending of the novel is replaced by a happy ending.