( CNN ) -- Director Chen Kaige 's films often examine the close ties of love , passion and friendship , but his own relationship with his artist and filmmaker father is one that has informed much of his life and colored his work . Chen Kaige captures the pains and passions of relationships on the silver screen . As a 14-year-old red guard during the Cultural Revolution , Chen denounced his father for creating subversive art . While his father forgave him , Chen has found it hard to truly forgive himself . `` I knew it was the wrong thing to do . If I did n't know , then I could 've forgiven myself , '' he told CNN . Chen has already touched upon such a significant moment in his personal life in his award-winning 1993 film , `` Farewell My Concubine . '' It brought him international-acclaim and a host of accolades , including Cannes Film Festival 's Palme D'or . Like `` Farewell My Concubine , '' Chen 's latest film , `` Forever Enthralled '' ( `` Mei Lanfang '' in Mandarin ) , once again delves into the world of Beijing opera , and it has proven to be a hit in China since its release in cinemas in December . However , capturing the Cultural Revolution remains one of Chen 's ambitions -- not only to explore the circumstances that colored the relationship with his father but an exploration of a crucial time in Chinese history . `` It 's not because I was hurt and so many people hurt that I want to do my revenge . It 's not like this . This is the lesson that the Chinese people must learn , no matter what , '' Chen told CNN . `` I hope that my generation of directors or writers could do something to tell people the truth , to tell people what really happened at that time ; why a young son of a film director , you know , could denounce his own father , like I did . I was still shocked , '' he said . Now 56 years old , Chen studied at the Beijing Film Academy , directing his first feature film `` Yellow Earth '' in 1984 . After the success of `` Farewell My Concubine , '' he eventually took up the offer to direct a Hollywood film in 2002 -- `` Killing Me Softly , '' with Heather Graham and Joseph Fiennes . While failing to impress the critics or register a hit at the box office , Chen remains sanguine about the experience . `` I think I 've learnt a lot from that . Although I fully understand why audiences did n't really enjoy that film that much . `` In the industrial system [ of Hollywood ] people do n't really care if you 're making a good film or not . People care about whether the film can make money . It 's a completely different thing , you know . Quite honestly , I was n't very comfortable to do films that way , '' said Chen . Chen will continue to make films in China and finds the country 's recent transformation as significant as earlier periods of change during his lifetime . `` I ask myself whether it 's a progress or we 're just going back to where we not necessarily need to be . I do n't know . I mean , I 'm not trying to say anything politically . But I feel if you look at the very beginning of Charles Dickens ' novel , ' A Tale of Two Cities , ' 'It was the best times , it was the worst times ... ' this is the simple answer , '' he said . Time will tell if today 's China will be part of Chen 's cinematic sweep in the future .
Chinese director Chen Kaige found international fame with 'Farewell My Concubine ' Made a brief foray into filmmaking in Hollywood before returning to China . Personal experience during Cultural Revolution had large impact .