The October 30 world premiere of the Chinese dramedy Take Off in the Competition section of the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival drew a large crowd of viewers familiar with the filmmaking team. Applause was enthusiastic as director Pengfei, actor Jiang Qiming, and executive producer/screenwriter Shuang Xuetao appeared onstage. Surprisingly, the loudest whistles of all were for Shuang.
 
The mystery was soon cleared up by TIFF Programming Director Ichiyama Shozo, who mentioned that Shuang not only wrote the original novella on which the film is based (“The Aeronaut”), but also wrote the screenplays for the 2023 series Why Try to Change Me Now? as well as the 2024 film My Friend An Delie, both of which played at TIFF. Shuang is also the award-winning author of seven volumes of fiction, explaining the rockstar reception.
 
Take Off is a gorgeously lensed and art-directed work that follows the journey of Li Mingqi (Jiang Qiming), a laborer in Northeast China, from the 1970s to the present as he pursues his dream of flying. This is apparently an inherited family trait, since his father also made multiple attempts to soar the heavens in a machine of his own devising (leaping off a hot-air balloon to try it out). Mingqi conducts innumerable experiments on a jet booster, but always fails — eventually landing himself a 10-year suspension from work for failing to obtain approval.
 
As China undergoes reform and then opens up, Mingqi and his devoted wife Yafeng transform a factory into the Zorro Dance Hall—hilarity ensues as he tries to hire entertainers and attract customers—but Mingqi secretly longs to take to the skies once again. With the help of a Russian engineer, he is finally able to do so.
 
Ichiyama asked why Pengfei had chosen the novella and the subject (essentially, hope) to adapt. Said the director, “I read the novella and from the very first word, I was attracted to it. It was such a romantic story, but also profound and humorous. I really wanted to make it into a film. Another reason is that I was really touched by how Li Mingqi pursued his dream and never gave up. I liked the idea of portraying this common man’s life for 30 or 40 years, and sharing it with the audience. In my mind, he’s really a hero. I feel like he taught me the fact that no matter how old you are, you can pursue your dream. I felt like if I were given the same chance as Mingqi, I would also pursue my dream.”
 
And how did he cast the role? “I chose Jiang Qiming to play Li Mingqi because their names were similar. No, I’m kidding. I chose him because I thought he would be wonderful in the role, and he was. I was really happy and honored to work with him.”
 
As for adapting the novella, the writer-director explained, “When I started working on the film, I consulted with Shuang Xuetao about how I should adapt the story, and he gave me the freedom to do what I needed to do to make a good film. But I made sure to keep the original atmosphere and the message that it was conveying.”
 
He continued, “I always feel like Shuang creates characters that are as rich as strong coffee and yet comical as well. Just as I wonder where good coffee beans come from and how they’re grown, I went in search of the characters. I went to China’s northeast and met people there who helped me flesh out the characters. Although Mingqi’s a comical character, I talked with people of the same generation as Mingqi and heard their stories, and I think I was able to make rich coffee.”
 
Shuang was asked how he adapted the novella, in his role as executive producer. “This wasn’t the first time one of my works was adapted into a film,” he told the audience, “but it was the first time we could spend so much time on the adaptation and with such a great cast and crew. The process was quite smooth. I wanted to portray how Northeastern China was in the 1960s and 70s, how people lived. The shoot went well, thanks to the wonderful team. Hearing your laughter tonight, I feel like we were successful in our aims.”
 
Due to limited time, popular actor Jiang Qiming (To the Wonder, Journey to the West) was able to answer only one question, concerning a kissing scene that wasn’t in the original novel. “When we were shooting one day, the director and Mr. Shuang started talking and stopped shooting. We wondered what they were talking about and it was that scene. They wanted to add it because the couple was going through a difficult time. So they added that kiss and it was rather spur-of-the-moment.”
 
Q&A Session: Competition
Take Off
Guests: Pengfei (Director/Screenplay), Jiang Qiming (Actor), Shuang Xuetao (Executive Producer/Screenplay)