Posted: Wed., Apr. 29, 2009, 3:01pm PT

Monaco fest features eclectic lineup

Discoveries and some rare finds among films

By Shane Danielsen

'The Steam Experiment'

DRIVING FORCE

This year's Monaco fest opens with the drama "Cars of the Revolution," from Turkish helmer Tolga Ornek. It's the story of seven engineers struggling to design and build Turkey's first locally produced automobile just a year after the 1960 military coup.

GLOBAL WARNING

Closing night sees the world preem of Philippe Martinez's thriller "The Steam Experiment," starring Val Kilmer and Eric Roberts, about a deranged scientist who locks six people in a steam room and threatens to cook them unless the media heed his concerns about global warming.

RUSSIAN DRESSING

There's a decidedly Russian flavor to this year's program, courtesy of special festival ambassador Karolina Evstigneeva, who's secured 12 Russian features to screen. And with this in mind, organizers are hoping to get Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to attend the fest and award the honors to the competition winners.

WE ARE THE WORLD

For lovers of kitsch, the highlight must be Iranian filmmaker Daryush Shokof's surreal, semi-legendary "Seven Servants," which has gone almost unseen since its 1996 preem at Locarno. Featuring the final performance of Anthony Quinn, this bizarre, symbolism-heavy parable sees a wealthy old man hire four servants -- Caucasian, black, Asian and Middle Eastern -- to "reinvigorate" him by plugging up his facial openings with their fingers. They then become a conjoined living organism, complete with 10 arms and 10 legs, which moves, eats and even dances as one -- a symbol of "the ideal of unity for all mankind."