Ju-On and Gottfried Benn
By: Ga Yue Lau
College Now Course - HUM 1
Expressionism developed at the turn of the 20th century in Germany. Artists and writers
used this experiment to shock the viewers and readers. Gottfried Benn's poem "Beautiful
Childhood" and the original version of the Japanese movie "Ju-On: The Grudge" are
examples of expressionism because of the style used to shock the viewers.
In the poem "Beautiful Childhood", Benn shocks the reader by describing how the dead
girl looks. The details are very graphic and the description of how the inside of
her body looked were terrifying. An example from the poem is, "The mouth of a girl
who lain long in this reads looked so gnawed at." The explanation of where the rats
lived in her body and what they had eaten were disgusting. A line from the poem that
fits this sentence is," The others were living on liver and kidney, drank the cold
blood. . ."
In the movie, "Ju-On", the director shocks the viewer throughout the film. In the
beginning of the film, the mother's face was white and lifeless. Afterwards, the dead
mother appears everywhere and anywhere, looking very bloodcurdling. The mother's face
is as white as chalk. Her eyes looked as if someone gnawed at them. When she opens
her mouth, only a dry sound comes out; and her mouth can open and twist in many directions.
She drags her bloody body across the floor by moving her twisted elbows in a very
quick pace.
The poem and movie are two examples of how expressionism can be used by filmmakers
and poets. Each art form is used to shock the viewer. Benn uses graphic details to
describe the dead girl in the poem. The director of Ju-On uses the camera to scare
and shock the viewer.
