Hacker Cinema
The Store
1983 · Film · documentary · 118 min
Directed by Frederick Wiseman
An in-depth look at the main Neiman-Marcus store and corporate headquarters in Dallas: the selection, presentation, marketing, pricing, advertising and selling of a vast array of consumer products including designer clothes and furs, jewelry, perfumes, shoes, electronic products, sportswear, China and porcelain, and many other goods. Internal management and organizational aspects of a large corporation are shown, i.e., sales meetings, development of marketing and advertising strategies, training, personnel practices and sales techniques.
2 positivefrom 2 commenters
Where to watch
No streaming data for this title.
2 comments on Hacker News
One of Frederick Wiseman's wonderful documentaries is "The Store", which is about Neiman Marcus sometime in the 80's. Currently streaming on Kanopy.
One sequence showed the CEO giving a pep talk to his buyers, whose relationship with their suppliers was always strained at best. He told a joke about a buyer who called his supplier that went something like:
Buyer: "Hello, is Fred Jones there?"
Receptionist: "I'm sorry, Mr. Jones passed away last month"
Buyer: "Oh, sorry to hear that, goodbye."
Ten minutes later:
Buyer: "Hello, is Fred Jones there?"
Receptionist: "I told you, he died last month"
Buyer: "Oh, oh, yes. Goodbye."
Ten minutes later:
Buyer: "Hello, is Fred Jones there?"
Receptionist: "He's dead, why do you keep calling here?"
Buyer: "I just like hearing you say it"
Adam Curtis' short "Oh Dearism" (https://thoughtmaybe.com/oh-dearism/) 12 minute mini-documentary is a good ramp up to his longer movies and is a critique of the failings of television news media in the late 20th century. My favorite of his is "Bitter Lake" (https://thoughtmaybe.com/bitter-lake/), a haunting "how did we get here" view of the middle east. His 3 part miniseries "All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace" (https://thoughtmaybe.com/all-watched-over-by-machines-of-loving-grace/) is a pretty good examination of 1970s silicon valley ruh-roh cybernetics culture and how it collided with the rest of the world vis-a-vis objectivism, finance, etc.
Somebody in this thread mentioned Wiseman's titicut follies, a lesser known but equally fascinating documentary of his is called The Store (http://www.zipporah.com/films/19) and just follows and examines the goings on at the Nieman-Marcus flagship in Dallas during holiday season of 1983.
Another favorite documentary that's more like watching a really good lecture is Thom Andersen's Los Angeles Plays Itself (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Plays_Itself ). it's a survey and exploration of the history of Los Angeles and its relationship and portrayal in hollywood and pop culture in general.