THE HISTORY OF CONCRETE Review: Nothing Is Permanent

We walk on it, we run on it, we jump on it, but how often do we think about concrete?

The History of Concrete
The film opens Friday, September 18, only in movie theaters, via Magnolia Pictures. Visit the official site for locations and showtimes.

Making something special out of something we never think about is John Wilson's specialty.

Born in Queens, New York, and raised on Long Island, Wilson has made distinctive short films by framing subjects through his own unique perspective for nearly 20 years. His docuseries How To with John Wilson (now streaming on HBO Max) supplied balm for the soul during the pandemic, offering wry comic takes on ordinary subjects over the course of 18 episodes, usually running less than 30 minutes or so.

So how did he land on concrete as the unlikely subject of his first feature film?

"It's hard to be motivated when no one is telling you what to do," the filmmaker laments as he is faced with conjuring up a new project after the conclusion of his HBO series. His library of expertly-used B-roll New York street scene footage has been emptied; the royalty checks are getting smaller. Now working alone, he needs to dream up something in order to entice financiers for his next project, an eternal challenge for independent creative artists.

As he's looking for a possible financier, he attends the only seminar (at the time, during a strike) offered by the Writer's Guild of America, "How to write and sell a Hallmark movie." Using the lessons the seminar taught, he is able to get some funds for The History of Concrete, first traveling to Rome for some background, where he promptly spends his entire budget.

Now what?

It's the delight of figuring out what comes next that fuels Wilson's work. Because he is working in the common, old-school documentary tradition of following the story, no matter where it goes, and then figuring out the narrative, The History of Concrete never feels like a documentary made for a streaming service or a broadcast or cable network.

Narrated in second-person perspective -- think "You Are There" -- with Wilson's own higher-pitched nasal voice, and always presented visually from his first-person perspective, The History of Concrete can't help but be its own quirky thing. Operating from a position of sincere curiosity and skeptical inquiry, he assembles his footage with the care of a craftsman.

This takes him from videoconference meetings to 'man and woman on the streets' interviews caught on the fly in Rome, New York City, a small town in Ohio, and Los Angeles, and back again to New York, where he meets people, befriends a few, and keeps asking questions. He is also constantly researching, looking for information that relates to his subject, however vaguely, in printed books and online on a variety of sites.

The History of Concrete is filled with wonderful tangents. Sometimes the film moves as though it's a dog following a new scent, taking it to places that may not have been on the agenda, but that make perfect sense after they're visited. Pieces continue to fall into place throughout the film, as John Wilson's curious investigation keeps overturning well-established rocks.

John Wilson's genius is recognizing that there are many avenues that can be followed, and that most things fall apart, yet they are all related to one another, and that they all belong together, even if they don't appear to be connected. The History of Concrete coalesces into a warm-hearted hug, overflowing with poignance.