Operation Concrete () is a 1958 Swiss documentary short by French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, notable for being his first film of any length. The film documents the construction of the massive concrete Grande Dixence Dam in Valais, Switzerland.
Godard was attracted to the subject while working on the dam as a laborer and telephone switchboard operator. He produced the film with his friend Pierre Laubscher, as well as camera operator Adrien Porchet and fellow friend Roland Tolmatchoff. The group shot the film in 35mm and recorded sound on location, unusually for the time. The film was sold to the Grand Dixence Corporation, which had built the dam.
Production
Background and conception
By 1952, Godard had relocated to Switzerland from Paris, where he had written for Cahiers du Cinéma and lived a Bohemian lifestyle. Godard's aim in Switzerland was to make money to finance his dreams of filmmaking. On December 24 of that year, his mother introduced Godard to her lover, Jean-Pierre Laubscher, an engineer on the Grande Dixence Dam in Valais. The following April, Godard sent Laubscher a formal letter asking for help in getting hired at one of Laubscher's work sites. The two developed a casual friendship, as Laubscher was only three years older than Godard. After a few weeks, Laubscher found Godard a job as a laborer on the dam. Godard, not having to purchase a 35mm camera, was now able to afford 35mm film.
Works cited
- de Baecque, Antoine (2010). Godard: biographie. Paris: B. Grasset. .
- Brody, Richard (2008). Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard (1. ed ed.). New York: Metropolitan Books. .