CHICAGO, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Known mostly for highly choreographed action sequences, world famous Chinese director JohnWoo stunned audiences with his Chinese epic "Red Cliff" on Friday at the 45th Chicago International Film festival.

    "I have been thinking about making this movie for 20 years and spent five years to prepare for it, including three years of writing the scripts. And the whole shooting process took about eight months," Woo said in his opening speech.

    When asked if Americans can appreciate a Chinese epic with many historical stories and background, Woo told Xinhua that "North American viewers are very familiar with our Kung-fu movies."

    "But I always hope that I can express the deeper side of our Chinese cultures in my movies, such as our Chinese philosophies, principles, styles and wisdom," he said.

    Woo listed friendship, the art of war, and a spirit of endurance as the Chinese elements that greatly interest Americans.

    "I made special efforts to show the essence of our Chinese cultures in this movie, such as Sado, calligraphy, kickball," he said. "All of these can move the international audiences."

    Woo said Red Cliff was released in two parts in Asian cinemas, totaling more than four hours in length. A version two and half hours in length was released in 2009 outside Asia.

    The director also prepared a special edition for American audiences to help them better understand the historical background of the film by using more voiceovers throughout the movie.

    After its Chicago appearance, "Red Cliff" will be shown in New York and Los Angeles before a wide U.S. release on Nov. 20.

    Woo was excited to hear that there are already many fans for the movie in the U.S. and is confident that its American box office will be successful.

    With an estimated budget of 80 million U.S. dollars, "Red Cliff" is the most expensive Asian-financed film to date. The first part of the film grossed 124 million dollars in Asia and broke the box office record previously held by "Titanic" in Mainland China.

    "Red Cliff" is based on events that happened at the end of the Han Dynasty and immediately prior to the period of the Three Kingdoms in ancient China. The film was directed by Woo and stars Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Hu Jun, Lin Chi-ling and Zhao Wei.

    The Chicago International Film Festival since its inception has brought in first the brightest and boldest new films and filmmakers from "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Reservoir Dogs," to Martin Scorsese, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wim Wenders, and WernerHerzog.

    Zhang Yimou's movie "Judou" won the Gold Hugo Award at the Chicago festival in 1990.

    Brie Dorsey, the festival organizer, said there are four Chinese movies showing at the two-week festival on Oct. 8-22 . The other three are "Astro Boy," "Claustrophobia," and "Plastic City."