Best movie of this year hands down!

Simply A Masterpiece

Lack of good storyline.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Life and events of the man who realized one of the most important discoveries of the 19th century: Altamira's caves. Altamira packs a good perfomance from Antonio Banderas and a talented cast but the film lacks serious dramatic depth and it's historical events are not portrayed with the interesting way i was expecting and even tho it's better than Banderas most recent projects it's still not as good as i hoped or expected it to be. (5/10)

The film is gorgeous and is faithful in its location shoots. The actors are fantastic, particularly Banderas as Sanz de Sautuola, and I enjoyed the music.Unfortunately however, the writers decided they wanted to take cheap-shots at religious people, by making his wife Conchita the stooge of a nefarious priest (is there any other kind in Hollywood?). She's upset because neolithic art of still extant Pleistocene mammals, is somehow anti-creationist (Yeah, I didn't get it either).In real life Conchita had no problems with the Altamira cave art and supported her husband.The actual controversy at the time was that the paint looked too fresh, and there wasn't any soot marks from torches. Many people initially suspected the images were forgeries because of those reasons, not because pictures of bison, horses and wild boar somehow frighten creationists.It's too bad they stooped to defaming Conchita for the sake of unnecessary drama and cheap demagoguery. It knocks three stars off my review.

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 Picasso wrote that "after Altamira, all is decadence - we have invented nothing." This fascinating and aesthetically splendid film tells the story of the discovery of one of the earliest works of art of mankind, the famous Paleolithic cave paintings of animals, the so-called Cave of Altamira near the town of Santillana del Mar and west of Santander in Cantabria, Spain.Antonio Banderas is outstanding as the impassioned "amateur" scientist responsible for alerting the world to the transcendent discovery of the caves, initially found by a dog and a shepherd who stumbled across the opening. Banderas plays the role of Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola y de la Pedrueca, who, along with his eight-year-old daughter, Maria, first recognized the significance of the mysterious wall paintings. The film starts in 1878 in Cantabria and ends in 1902, the date when the wall paintings were formally acknowledged as authentic.The film tells the story of the struggle and humiliation of Sautuola, who faced hostility from both the church and the recidivist scientists, who refused to believe that the magnificent paintings could have been executed by artists around the year 10,000 B.C.E.It turns out that paintings may have belonged to the Aurignacian culture, 35,600 years ago. Sautuola carefully analyzed the evidence and came to realize the significance of the find. The film effectively develops the family drama, focusing on the resistance of Sautuola's wife, Conchita, who finally comes around to believing in the theory of her husband. Conchita also takes a strong stand against the local Monsignor, who nearly invokes the Spanish Inquisition in his attempt to consign Sautuola to hell for his scientific views."Altamira" was directed by Hugh Hudson, the filmmaker who produced one of the most beautifully shot films of the previous century, "Chariots of Fire." "Altamira" has the same polished look with breathtaking scenes of the countryside in Northern Spain.This film could have been a dry "history channel" dramatization. Instead, it is a superbly crafted and aesthetically brilliant feature film, one that is not to be missed for lovers of art and culture.