Film: The Store

Yale Film Archive: Wisemania Film Series The Store (Frederick Wiseman, 1983, 16mm, 118 mins) "There's really one purpose to our being at Neiman Marcus, one grand purpose, and that's to make sales.” Wiseman’s first color film slips behind the polished façade of the upmarket chain’s Dallas flagship in the busy weeks leading up to Christmas ‘82, showing us how executives, salespeople, decorators, buyers, and models stage luxury and cultivate desire. This perceptive and playful look at consumer culture in Reagan-era America features Art Buchwald, Lady Bird Johnson, and a singing stripper in a chicken costume, among others. “An absorbing experience you won’t soon forget” (Sarah Wright). 16mm print from the Yale Film Archive. Yale Film Archive's Wisemania series is a multi-year exploration of the works of documentarian Frederick Wiseman. Yale Film Archive screenings are always free and open to the public. See the full film schedule here.