Todo Lo Demás, Everything else

Doña Flor has been working in government offices for more than thirty-five years. Everyday, she uses her small power against all kinds of people in Mexico City, whether poor or rich, illiterate or educated. At night, as Doña perpetuates the routine of her work right to her very bed, Mexico City seems to burst and to display its violence, as an echo of all the bureaucratic pettiness of the day. One day, as Doña is frozen with fear, a kind gesture compels her to get out of her torpor at last. (V.P.)