KO Review Finding Altamira

Finding Altamirais period piece about evolution vs. the church in Spain. Starring in the lead is Antonio Banderas who plays Sautuola, a paleontologist . It isn’t until the daughter of Sautuola stumbles upon paleolithic cave paintings of bison by accident, that Sautuola’s world turns upside down.  The cave paintings according to Sautuola were dating back to the ancient past, a concept that contradicted the church’s teachings of creation. Sautuola’s hypothesis makes him a very unpopular man amongst his community and within his own family.

 Unfortunately Sautuola’s hypothesis is not proven to be correct until after his death in 1902, 14 years later when Emile Cartailhacunequivocallyadmitted his mistake in the famous article, “Mea culpa d’un sceptique”, published in the journalL’Anthropologie. Sautuola, died  earlier, not knowing the world celebrated and acknowledged his efforts in the field of paleontology.

 FINDING ALTAMIRAwas shot on location in Spain by renowned Spanish cinematographerJosé Luis Alvarez, best known for his ongoing work withPedro Almodóvar. The aesthetic of this film is like a rembrandt painting, picturesque, dark and rich color with deeply saturated pigments.The use of shadows and lights to fill the screen make it a wonderful experience to watch. Deeply romantic, with classical soundtrack and moments or operatic splendor. The costume design of the period costumes is exquisite, and the acting top shelf. Even though I studied art history and find the story interesting, the plot was rather sluggish because it was  devoid any unexpected plots twists. The script was written byOlivia Hetreed (Wuthering Heights, Girl with a Pearl Earring) andJosé Luis López-Linares.

As a companion to the film’s release, the filmmakers have produced afour-minute virtual reality tour of the Altamira Caves; Pacific Northwest Pictures and Goldwyn Films will distribute viewing glasses at opening weekend screening pop-ups, to allow audiences to step inside this remarkable piece of human history. (This is really a cool idea 🙂 )

 FINDING ALTAMIRAopens on Cineplex screens in Toronto (Yonge Dundas), Vancouver (The Park), Calgary (Eau Claire), Ottawa (South Keys), and Halifax (Park Lane)

Friday September 23rd, 2016.

CheckCalgaryMovies.comfor showtimes