I think that it still works as a story about current events, since this thing is still going on. It has been a slow, ongoing process. The big stores are even now swallowing up smaller businesses, usually businesses with more charm and individual style. The coffee shops will probably disappear because of Starbucks. I really hope not. I love old-fashioned Viennese style Cafés.Another point, Emile Zola was describing in his novel -written in 1883- the creation of the first department store ever: Le Bon Marché created in 1852 in Paris. The film has transposed the story to the 1920s when department stores were already numerous in Paris...
Even though I generally like happy endings, I could sense that that wasn't quite how the original story ended. And I might have respected an unhappy ending more if it was in keeping with the original. Still, it's a very lovely film. I love the style of it, very special and cinematic, for lack of a better word. I don't know if that explains at all what I sense in this film. There is so much attention to detail. It's very special.