DONGSHIGU VILLAGE , China ( CNN ) -- As Christian Bale approached an impromptu checkpoint leading to this tiny village in eastern China , four men blocking the narrow path started marching toward him in menacing unison . `` I am here to see Chen Guangcheng , '' the `` Dark Knight '' actor said and I translated , with correspondent Stan Grant and cameraman Brad Olson next to us . `` Go away ! '' the plainclothes guards barked , pushing us back . Amid the scuffling and yelling , dozens more guards in olive-green , military-style overcoats -- and two gray minivans -- emerged from the other side of the checkpoint , all coming toward us . `` Why can I not visit this free man ? '' Bale asked repeatedly , only to receive punches from guards aiming for his small camera as they tried to drag him away from the rest of us . As we retreated , I recognized the ringleader -- the same burly man who had hurled rocks at the CNN team 10 months earlier to force us out of the same location . A precarious scene ensued Thursday as one of the gray minivans chased our car at high speed on bumpy country roads for some 40 minutes . When the dust settled , we counted a broken car , a damaged camera -- and a Hollywood star disappointed at -- but not shocked by -- his failure to see a personal hero . `` What I really wanted to do was to meet the man , shake his hand and say what an inspiration he is , '' Bale said . The man , 40-year-old Chen Guangcheng , has been confined to his home along with his wife , mother and daughter , and watched around the clock by dozens of guards since he was released from prison in September 2010 . A local court had sentenced him to more than four years in prison for damaging property and disrupting traffic in a protest . Blind China activist recovers amid call for his release . His supporters maintain authorities used trumped-up charges to silence Chen , a blind , self-taught lawyer who rose to fame in the late 1990s thanks to his legal advocacy for what he called victims of abusive practices by China 's family-planning officials . Bale first learned about Chen through news reports , including our coverage in February , when he was in China filming `` The Flowers of War , '' a wartime drama set in 1930s Nanjing in which he plays a mortician trying to save a group of schoolgirls from the clutches invading Japanese soldiers . Blind lawyer makes Chinese officials jittery . The injustice faced by the activist and his family stirred such strong emotions in Bale that , upon hearing his impending return to China to promote the movie , he decided to do something unusual to raise the international awareness of Chen and thereby to turn up the heat on the Chinese government . `` This does n't come naturally to me , this is not what I actually enjoy -- it is n't about me , '' he explained during our eight-hour drive from Beijing to the eastern city of Linyi , where Chen 's village is located . `` But this was just a situation that said I ca n't look the other way . '' Known to be a media-shy celebrity , Bale reached out to CNN and invited us to join him on his journey to visit Chen . In the car , he lamented the American public 's lack of knowledge on Chen 's case , despite senior U.S. officials ' increasingly vocal support for his freedom . Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Gary Locke , the American ambassador to China , have both championed Chen 's cause . Bale appeared a little surprised to learn that Relativity Media , which produced his 2010 Oscar-winning `` The Fighter '' and recently filmed a comedy in Linyi , was accused by activists of cozying up to the same officials who ordered Chen 's detention and torture . The studio has issued a statement denying the allegation . Although China 's state media has largely ignored the story , Chen 's plight has spread online and outraged a growing number of Chinese `` netizens . '' Many have tried to visit Chen , and activists say nearly all would-be visitors have been turned back , often violently , by plainclothes police and local thugs . `` I 'm not brave doing this , '' Bale emphasized . `` The local people who are standing up to the authorities , who are visiting Chen and his family and getting beaten or detained , I want to support them . '' As our car sped toward Beijing in the dark , Bale wondered aloud if he would never be allowed back -- a prospect he is prepared to accept -- even as `` The Flowers of War '' became China 's official entry into next year 's Academy Awards . `` Really , what else can I do to help Chen ? '' he kept asking as the clock struck midnight , with his latest movie -- partially funded by the state -- about to open nationwide in China .
Christian Bale is in China to see a new movie filmed there . The star goes to visit activist Chen Yi . Chen and his wife are confined to their apartment . CNN 's Steven Jiang was with Bale as he thwarted the director 's efforts .