The ANBB’s General Secretary Sinoo called Betonarbeid (also known as Caissonbouw) an “educational film”, and it is true that it does show how concrete caissons were made and sunk in Rotterdam’s harbour, the Merwedehaven, to serve as an embankment. But Betonarbeid is more than just an “educational film”. It is also a testimony to Ivens’ keen eye for the extraordinary skills of the ironworkers. He also unwittingly recorded how deficient safety conditions at the construction site actually were in 1930. Above all, the subject of the film offered him the chance to compose a “symphony of labour”’ by playing with light and dark, lines, and visual rhythms. A few shots are even reminiscent of the work of Piet Mondrian. In many respects Betonarbeid closely resembles Groei (Growth, 1930), a short film by Polygoon cameraman Jo de Haas about the construction of the Bijenkorf department store in Rotterdam.

Bert Hogenkamp