Altamira

Like the trailer, which soars with a sense of greatness, this is a beautiful film that stayed with me, and keeps recurring to my mind weeks later. No spoilers in this review, I'll just recommend the story to original thinkers who know how hard it is to stand against the crowd and state the truth, because it is the truth. And to keep faith with yourself--against the universe if need be.

If you are religious and worry that this story will attack your love of God, I don't think that will happen. If you believe that God created existence; then exploring this beauty cannot be a threat to God. If you hold no beliefs but rely on reason to understand the world around you, then you will revere Marcelino de Sautuola's courage, vision and unbending spirit.

I take away his story to stay with me as I walk through life.

Pablo makes a fair point . But it was the family who owned the property that tried in vane to share this great discovery with the world and condemned as a fraud. As with anything discovery is not the be all and end all. A far more significant

point to this story is about is the efforts to share this magnificent artifact with the world in the face of complete skepticism. Yes a shepherd / hunter found it but the journey is in getting people to understand the value in the history of mankind amid claims of fraud. This is an effort to view the far bigger picture the efforts to learn human history and just how relevant this find was relating to preserving a chapter in early mankind's history. the effort to share with the world is the story .pablo is looking through a more political lens. But at the time it seems few other than a determined landowner cared about the historical value . His efforts saved these magnificent artifacts bring attention to the story of mankind's history

Beyond some controversy in the history behind the story, Finding Altamira is, in its own right, a find worthy of celebration.

The cinematography of Jose Luis Alcaine is amazing. One could take almost any frame in this film and hang it on a wall as a work of art. I could have watched this film in mute and enjoyed just the visual majesty of every scene.

After doing work in films like the Spy Kids franchise, Antonio Banderas is developing a reputation, in my mind, as a recognizable actor who brings attention to otherwise obscure movies, not to drive up the budget, but to elevate attention to the art. I would have never watched Automata, had I not been wondering what Antonio Banderas was doing in that movie; only to be wonderfully surprised again. In this movie, I would say that his acting was adequate, but once again, after the Automata experience, I decided to give the movie a chance. I am so glad I did.

My favorite scenes were those involving Rupert Everett (Monsinor) and Golshifteh Farahani (Conchita). The cinematography was almost like watching an oil painting, with barely any movement, yet the tension and intensity of every scene was incredible. Was it sexual? Was it a power struggle? Was is a tug-of-war of morality? I could have watched them all day.

The little girl in the film, Allegra Allen (Maria), as most child actors tend to be, is just too precocious in this movie and the character almost did not work for me. In my opinion, the point of view of the story shifted too much from the child in the beginning, the father in the middle, and the mother at the end. I believe the story would have been better served if the arc of Conchita's story would have remained the focus throughout.

There was an "affair of the heart" storyline which was totally unnecessary, in my opinion, and only included to generate more scenes and conflict for secondary actors. I believe the movie would have been just fine without diving into that part of the story and leaving it as wistful glances between two characters.

The story, whether parts are true or fictionalized, is simple enough and I would suggest, secondary to this film.

You should watch this movie if only for watching how beautiful the craft of movie making can be.

The man who discovered the Altamira Caves was a shepherd named Modesto Cubillas.

The person who the film says is the discoverer, Marcelino Saenz de Sautola is only the owner of the land but the film insists on giving all the importance to this man. Do you know why?

The family Botin & Sainz de Sautuola is one of the most powerful families in Spain (owners of Santander Bank), they are creepy aristocrats who want to honor his ancestor with a lie. The family Botin & Sainz de Sautuola are who sponsor the film. Poor Modesto Cubillas, you were "only" a shepherd with no money.

I am not sure why this actor's name is listed all the way down in the page as he is the main character... I am referring to Antonio Banderas; whoever created this page should correct this. Rupert Everett, who appears in the beginning, is actually playing a small part in this movie. I tried to fix it but by editing the page but couldn't do it. I hope to see this corrected in the future. It just makes no sense to me and I have seen similar mistakes in other movie pages.