Japanese star Hiroyuki Sanada(L), South Korean star Jang Dong-Kun(M) and film director Chen Kaige(R)

The martial arts saga, a visual stunner with a tragic plot, cost some 35 million dollars (29 million euros) to make and features an international cast from Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and mainland China.

Chen said he was proud of the fact that he had drawn actors from beyond China's borders.

"Of course we don't really speak the same language but that made the whole production more special," he said.

"I think it is very important for us to work together. There is a sort of problem between those countries but artists have the power to break the culture gap. It was like a mini-United Nations (on the set)."

South Korean actor Jang Dong-Kun, who plays one of three leading roles in the film, said he had been forced to jump into the deep end with the Mandarin script.

"That was tricky in some ways. I only studied Chinese for a few weeks before we started shooting and I listened to recordings in Chinese," he said.

"I realized that what an actor does depends very much on language. But language is not the whole thing, what is important is emotion."

Hiroyuki Sanada of Japan said working on the film had been rewarding despite the language barriers.

"Of course on the set a Japanese actor and a Korean actor speaking Mandarin was strange. But acting is heart-to-heart, soul-to-soul," he said.

Austrian producer Etchie Stroh said the strong cast and Chen's international reputation -- he also captured the Golden Palm in Cannes for "Farewell My Concubine" -- allowed him to raise the mega-budget.

"If you have a movie with Chen Kaige, with lead actors from China and South Korea -- the budget was less of a problem than for other pictures in the West," he said.

"It was the scope of the picture that was the big challenge and not so much the budget."

The film, which has already drawn nine million viewers in China, tells the story of a slave (Jang Dong-Kun) who kills a king to save the life of a royal concubine (Cecilia Cheung).

The Beijing-born Chen, 53, said the movie was driven by the idea that destiny can be overcome by personal will.

"I worked in the Chinese countryside as a soldier and now I'm sitting here in Berlin and can share the beauty of Asia with you. So I believe that fate can be changed if you have love," he said.

"The essential theme in this movie is freedom."

Chen, who served on the jury at the 1989 Berlinale, said he had no plans to follow Taiwan-born director Lee Ang, who is nominated for a directing Oscar this year for "Brokeback Mountain", to Hollywood.

"I don't have any desire to work in the States for the time being at least," he said. "I think my concern, my love and my belief -- whatever it is -- belongs in my own country."

Jang said he was disappointed by the South Korean government's plans to cut in half the screen quota system for domestic movies.

"It's not just me but a lot of other Korean actors who are very sad about this. It's very difficult to compete with Hollywood," he said.

"For each country, its own culture is important. And each country wants its own culture to survive. I'd like it to remain that way."

Stroh said he thought "The Promise" had what it takes to compete with Hollywood films for European and American viewers.

"This is not an art house movie -- it had an approach for a big audience," he said.

But a press screening Sunday saw dozens of walk-outs and only tepid applause for the highly melodramatic story.

"The Promise" screened out of competition at the Berlinale, running through February 19.