There's a saying that you pass through boredom into fascination, and when it applies to Frederick Wiseman's movies, it's true. This film, shot during the Christmas season at a Nieman Marcus in Dallas, allows you to be a true fly on the wall in 1982 as rich people shop for holiday dresses, displays of plush E.Ts are put up, some office workers have a birthday party (complete with a guy in a chicken suit), and people behind the scenes control the flow of goods in and out as the well-heeled purchase gifts. This movie fills me with more warm nostalgia than any repeat viewing of It's A Wonderful Life ever could, as it makes me a participant again in the 1982 of Christmas past - not the reconstructed version, assembled from the detritus and artifacts remaining in our era, but allowing me the experience of existing, living, and breathing in the past again. Its real-time, judgementless pace takes a moment to adjust to, but once you do, just being an impartial observer on a moment in time and space is endlessly absorbing.
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