I found this documentary, written and directed by Matthew Miele, became more and more pretentious and self-congratulatory as it progressed. It's a glimpse into the world of people who live in an alternate reality from 99.9% of the rest of us. It reminded me somewhat of the documentary "The Queen of Versailles" where the main characters had seemingly no clue, or didn't want to know how the rest of the world lives.

The subject here is the iconic department store and building, taking up the entire block at 57th Street and 5th Avenue, in Manhattan, of Bergdorf Goodman. It's purported to be, in the film, the classiest retail clothier around, showcasing the world's best designers for the world's wealthiest clients.

Without trying to get too moralistic, when you look at the desperation of the people of the Phillipines, due to Typhoon Haiyan, and knowing the struggles of so many here in the States financially, it's hard to really enjoy a film that highlights the snooty world of the obscenely rich and famous and their clothing purchases.

Also, I certainly got the impression that there were strict controls on what was being filmed and what the final product would be. It became, in my opinion, more and more of an infomercial for Bergdorf Goodman.

On the positive side, I thought it was interesting to see the history of the company itself and how their famous building was designed and built. However, you don't learn till the very end of the film that the owner Andrew Goodman, who is highly praised in the film, sold out in 1972, and the company is now a subsidiary of Neiman Marcus.

Also, I thought the preparations of the Holiday windows at Bergdorf's was quite fascinating and the final results were amazing. So maybe I'll see you all gawking at the Christmas displays in the Bergdorf Goodman windows, because we're probably not going to go in and buy a $6,000 pair of shoes!

I used to work directly across the street from Bergdorf's and actually used to buy my makeup there which was specially blended for my skin. One thing I noticed every time I went in is that everyone shopping had an accent. None of we Americans had any money.

Bergdorf's is an institution, an American success story, originally a family-run business run by people who cared about their customers and their product. I would say it's still that way.

One of the best things about Christmas in New York is the Bergdorf windows, which are always sumptuous and put one right into the Christmas spirit, no matter how rotten they feel.

As far a their pricing, their markup is probably 400%.

I didn't mind the interviews, I found them very interesting with the various designers and also how Halston or Ralph Lauren, I can't remember which, was dumped from the store after his line for J.C. Penney was announced.

There was a little spot on the saleswoman Betty who was quite funny. "Johnny Depp is my favorite person in the world," she says, "and he's the only one I haven't met." "Do you like the way he dresses?" someone asks. "Oh, who cares about that," she says. When asked what she would be doing if she wasn't working at Bergdorf's, she says, "Drinking."

The only problem with the documentary in my opinion was that it was all about the filthy rich indulging in nauseating excess. As the divide between rich and poor becomes bigger (especially in New York) it's kind of sickening. As one woman explained it, when milk goes up 4 cents at Walmart, you stop buying it. But Bergdorf was able to raise prices and sell expensive items. Not, of course, to the same crowd.

SCATTER MY ASHES AT BERGDORF'S looks at the interior workings of Manhattan's famous store, interviews some of their most celebrated employees and talks to a series of fashion designers and customers who have enjoyed an association with the store over the years. Divided into a series of sections - for example, looking at how designers get accepted, the business of selling, or the planning that goes into the Christmas window-dressing campaign - the documentary shows how the store maintains its aura of exclusivity, not just because of the outrageous prices it charges, but because of the way it treats its customers. Star salesperson Betty Halbreich tells her clients the truth about themselves, while persuading them to spend fantastic sums on clothing. In the shoe salon, staff take a conscious pride in selling what they perceive as top-of-the-range models. Running throughout the film is a narrative concentrating on Bergdorf's iconic window-displays for 2012 - entitled "The Carnival of the Animals," they are quite simply mind- boggling in their detail and richness, creating a never-never land of their own that draws customers as well as tourists and window-shoppers. The interviews with the fashion designers are perhaps the film's least interesting aspect; it is much more instructive to look at the way in which hard-edged buyer Linda Fargo both nurtures and directs potential designers; she knows what she wants, and is prepared to get it at any cost. While Miele's film celebrates the store's durability - it even managed to weather the 2008 economic crisis - it perhaps lacks a sense of historical background: we could have found out more about how and why it attained its prestige in the first place. It remains highly entertaining nonetheless.