In 1992 Dutch-born director Heddy Honigmann returned to her hometown of Lima, Peru, after almost 20 years and found the city an economic ruin. Caught between the rightist government and the Shining Path guerrillas, many in the dwindling middle class were struggling to make a living and moonlighting as taxi drivers. This documentary—whose title refers to the Peruvians’ mixture of resilience and resignation—offers a candid and kaleidoscopic view of the poverty-stricken metropolis through each driver-philosopher’s tale of hardship. Some of the stories are disarmingly amusing, even comical; others are poignant and sobering, like that of a father who spends most of his money on his five-year-old daughter’s leukemia treatment. While obviously sympathetic to her subjects, Honigmann eschews sentimentality in favor of cheerful perseverance. In Spanish with subtitles. 80 min.