This drama presents the experiences of Cayetana (Fátima Buntinx), an intelligent, temperamental and somewhat sadistic girl of eight who idolizes national heroes of Peruvian history and animates reality with her lively imagination. Accustomed to being the only child of a wealthy Lima family, Cayetana falls into crisis when her mother (Katerina D'Onofrio) tells her that she is pregnant and soon Cayetana will have a younger brother. Deeply disturbed, she convinces herself that the day her brother is born will be the day of her own death. While Cayetana’s world becomes increasingly disintegrated, the country is consumed by the terrorist violence that began in the 1980s. Despite her pessimistic prediction, Cayetana does not die the day her brother is born but, on the contrary, gains a new perspective on life and on herself, declaring in the final scene: “I am not invisible!”

Vera R. Coleman

Arizona State University