LOS ANGELES - When the acupuncture needles were inserted into his body, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the Oscar-winning director, struggled to keep smiling in front of his wife and three kids, who were holding their breath and watching attentively.

"It can hurt a little, but the pain does not stay, it takes maybe a few seconds then it goes away," Donnersmarck said during a recent trip to an acupuncture clinic.

Donnersmarck has been coming to the Beijing Chinese Medical Center in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, every week for three months.