Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s

Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s
Directed by Matthew Miele

by Joanna Orland

I feel like I have just watched a 90 minute infomercial for Bergdorf Goodman, the infamous department store of New York’s Fifth Avenue elite.  This corporate marketing video in the guise of a documentary about the store’s history, clientele, inner workings and importance in the fashion world, is a puff piece.  This advertisement for high-end consumerism erratically jumps from topic to topic, subject to subject, in a repetitive loop that lasts far too long for the little it has to say.

Interview subjects are chosen well enough, with some big names including THE Joan Rivers, and various fashion designers including Lagerfeld, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, and all the big names, plus the Olsen twins and Nicole Richie for some reason.  More padding for this puff piece.  Some focus is directed at Bergdorf’s fashion director Linda Fargo, with status comparison’s being drawn to Anna Wintour, although Fargo’s personality is much warmer and lighter.  This whole film is so light, I thought it was helium-filled and about to float away.

The subject matter that features the most prominently has to be David Hoey, who designs Bergdorf’s extravagant window displays.  This is almost interesting, but he keeps saying the same thing in every scene, over and over again.  I just wanted to see the pretty art!  I didn’t care for any of the words.

This film is vacuous, corporate propaganda for consumerism, and not even that much fun.  Not even Joan Rivers herself could make this an interesting watch.