In Jean Renoir’s classic film The Golden Coach (Le Carosse D’Or), a troupe of Italian actors arrives in 18th-century colonial Lima, expecting to perform in a luxurious palace. Instead, they find themselves in a frontier town. “What do you think of the New World?” they are asked. “It will be better when it is finished.”  Arriving in Peru’s dusty, disorganized capital in July 2007, I had a similar reaction.