‘Take Off’ Director Pengfei Talks Tokyo Competition Entry

Director Pengfei‘s “Take Off,” which world premiered in competition at the Tokyo International Film Festival, represents both a continuation and evolution of the filmmaker’s creative preoccupations.

Adapted from Shuang Xuetao’s novella “The Aeronaut,” the movie follows Li Mingqi (Jiang Qiming), an abnormal employee in Northeast China who inherits his late father’s obsession with flight – a dream that will span many years and check the limits of his persistence.

The story unfolds against the backdrop of China’s dramatic financial transformation from the Nineteen Seventies to the current. After a home made flying machine crashes and leaves his brother-in-law disabled, Li Mingqi and his spouse (Li Xueqin) try and rebuild their lives by opening a dance corridor in an deserted manufacturing unit museum, utilizing a scorching air balloon as a vacationer attraction. But when his nephew falls critically in poor health, Li faces an inconceivable selection: settle for the limitations of his earthbound existence or threat the whole lot for one final flight.

For Pengfei, whose earlier movies “Underground Fragrance” and “The Taste of Rice Flower” explored working-class and marginalized communities, the project represents his first literary adaptation – and a deepening of his thematic considerations. “I think ‘Take Off’ brings together the emotional themes from my previous films, including love and family,” the director explains. “But this film delves into a deeper layer by incorporating the emotional dynamic between individuals and their dreams, which gives the story greater depth.”

The movie’s central pressure – between the grounded actuality of manufacturing unit employees’ lives and the transcendent pull of flight – required what Pengfei describes as unwavering sincerity. “From the very beginning of the scriptwriting process, we were pursuing authenticity and sincerity in the story, the characters, and the emotions,” he says. “‘Take Off’ has its element of flight – which represents the dream, and it is imbued with a strong sense of romanticism. But what sustains this spirit is the tangible, down-to-earth life on the ground. Without this foundation, the flight element would not hit close to the heart.”

Translating Shuang Xuetao’s literary world to the display screen introduced distinctive challenges. “The characters in Shuang Xuetao’s works are full of humor and wisdom, just like the author himself,” Pengfei notes. “When reading his novels, I often find myself laughing out loud. But the challenge lies in the intensity of his characters and stories – they are like a shot of espresso.”

To perceive the emotional source materials, Pengfei performed intensive discipline research in Northeast China, interviewing retired manufacturing unit employees. “Though retired, they reflected on their past with undiminished vibrancy and humor,” he remembers. “That inspired me to bring that same sense of warmth and wit into the film.”

Casting proved essential to the movie’s emotional authenticity. Pengfei discovered his lead in Jiang Qiming, identified for “Journey to the West” and “The Long Season.” “Jiang Qiming is an outstanding and deeply focused actor, with a certain sense of detachment that perfectly matches how Li Mingqi is described in the novel and the screenplay,” the director says. “Even their names sound alike.”

The second of recognition got here during the first costume becoming. “When he stepped out after his first costume fitting, I immediately thought, ‘He is the person who walked straight out of the novel,’” Pengfei remembers. The forged also contains veteran actor Jiang Wu, whose pure chemistry with Jiang Qiming required minimal route. “In the scene where he and Jiang Qiming share a meal, I barely needed to direct at all; simply watching them was already a pleasure.”

Working with cinematographer Lv Songye, Pengfei made a big stylistic departure from his earlier work. “In my previous films, I often used static shots, but after discussing with him, we decided to shoot ‘Take Off’ entirely with moving cameras, either handheld or on tracks, keeping the camera as close to the actors as possible to capture their breathing,” he explains.

Production designer Liu Qing, who has collaborated with Chen Kaige and Jiang Wen, introduced his personal contact to the interval particulars. “He is deeply passionate about that era, and in ‘Take Off,’ he poured all of his own memories into the film,” Pengfei says. “Memory itself is a fusion of lived experience and romantic imagination.”

For the score, Pengfei returned to Japanese composer Suzuki Keiichi for his or her third collaboration, despite the language barrier – or maybe because of it. “I actually see that as an advantage,” the director says. “We communicate in the simplest way possible. For this project, I gave him just one key phrase, ‘a romantic dream,’ and he immediately understood.”

Pengfei’s background contains work with Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang on “Stray Dogs,” an experience that formed his strategy to filmmaking. “Director Tsai Ming-liang has had a profound influence on me, so much that it took me a long time to focus on my own path,” he acknowledges. “What I learned from him, his seriousness toward cinema and his almost obsessive attention to detail, has benefited me for life.”

When requested about “Forrest Gump” as a reference point, Pengfei identifies persistence as the frequent thread, though with important distinctions. “Forrest’s is perhaps unwitting, while Li Mingqi’s is fully conscious,” he explains. “In my film, I chose to depict persistence through the act of letting go: the character stops talking about his dream and ceases to dwell on it, but that does not mean the love for it is gone. In the end, when he faces a moment that demands an all-or-nothing effort, he picks up the dream again without hesitation.”

Ultimately, Pengfei sees “Take Off” as transcending its particular setting to deal with common questions about desires and dignity. “Yes, I think this is a fable-like story, with a touch of fairy tale in it,” he displays. “What moves me is that a dream does not have to be pursued all the time. Sometimes, when you reach middle age and have been worn down by life, a moment suddenly arises that awakens the dream you once had in your youth. You may have to pay a heavy price for it, but the question is whether you are still willing to take that step and fight for it. My answer is, I am.”

Looking ahead, the director plans to continue his collaboration with Shuang Xuetao. “I’ve barely scratched the surface of his world,” he says – a touch that this journey into the lives of Northeast China’s working-class is much from over.