Botelho tackles the element ‘air’ in his contribution to the series ‘The four elements’. Botelho: ‘Air represents not only the breath essential to the existence of human beings, but also wind, word, initiation, apprenticeship, as well as the lightness of ordinary folks.’A little boy called Miguel has never seen his father because he is in jail. But in three days time Miguel will be seven and he hopes that ‘everything will be explained. Miguel’s mother Laura has money worries and rents a room to the asthmatic bookseller, Rafaël, who ‘makes a terrible noise when he breathes’. A few raucous neighbours complete the picture. Then there’s grandfather. Miguel claims to be his grandfather’s best friend; the special bond with the old man undoubtedly has to compensate for his father’s absence. At the end of what Botelho describes as Miguel’s ‘initiation’, the boy finds his father… the birthday promises are kept.
