Written and directed by John Wilson, after attending a workshop on how to write and sell a Hallmark movie, filmmaker John Wilson tries to use the same formula to sell a documentary about concrete.
Some documentaries give you exactly what you’re expecting, some take you on a complicated, surprising journey, and a rare few manage to do both, The History of Concrete is one of those films. As you’d expect, you will learn about concrete and you will follow John Wilson on an eccentric path across the American landscape, and further afield, but you’ll also find strange life lessons and end up in places you’d never have guessed in a million years. A particularly startling one being a macabre form of grief involving tattoos, which is wild.
There’s such a unique blend of tones to The History of Concrete, its foundation is built upon Wilson’s sense of humour. It can be deadpan and tongue-in-cheek, with the editing (from Cori Wapnowska) timing things so perfectly you feel like it should be followed by a ba-dum-tss. It’s genuinely funny but doesn’t take itself very seriously, which is such a strange contrast when it actually seems to have found itself walking down a road of reflection.
One side of The History of Concrete has a great time finding all of these niche, fascinating people, celebrating the oddity in the everyday. Wilson clearly has a strong talent for casually discovering some of the strangest people, to the delight of viewers. While the other side of the documentary almost feels like an exploration of the meaning of life, what keeps us going, and the cracks that appear along the way. All while making jokes about how difficult it is to sell a film about concrete, Wilson has a terrific sense of self-awareness. There are certainly some intriguingly original layers to this one.
The History of Concrete is swathed in satire but also somehow becomes a portrayal of the materials which connect all of us. John Wilson manages to create both a succinct yet nonsensical journey, putting together completely disconnected topics and people and making them feel like pieces of a larger puzzle. It’s a tricky thing to do justice to, not everyone will connect with the layers beneath its self-deprecating, sarcastic shell, but there is a bigger conversation to be found beneath all of that. It’s distinctly original, unexpected, funny and a unique experience. Also, the Hallmark workshop is pure comedy in itself.
