Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on May 2011

Popular actress Mao Inoue is boldly turning her back on happy-ending romance stories to embrace a solemn, confused and lonely character in Izuru Narushima’s newest movie, Yokame no Semi (English title: Rebirth). Based on author Mitsuyo Kakuta’s 2005 best-selling novel of the same title, the story was adapted as a television drama—starring Rei Dan and Kii Kitano—on NHK in 2010, and aired again in February this year.

In the movie, Inoue plays Erina Akiyama, a young woman abducted and raised until the age of four by her father’s mistress, Kiwako Nonomiya (Hiromi Nagasaku). When her would-be mother is apprehended, Erina returns to her real parents. But the trauma she endured sparks a conflict of identity, and she grows up unfamiliar with trust, family warmth and self-assurance.

“Playing the role of an abducted child was a major challenge for me,” said Inoue during a promotional event for the film with other cast members and the director. “I was uncertain on how to act out Erina’s inner feelings and emotions.” Co-stars Hiromi Nagasaku, Eiko Koike and Yuko Moriguchi echoed Inoue’s sentiments, unanimously agreeing that Rebirth had posed a professional challenge.

Like the book, the movie is roughly divided into two parts: the four years of Erina’s abduction, and her adult life. Inoue and Nagasaku expressed regret at having no scenes together. Koike—who plays a determined reporter writing a book on the abduction—could not resist the role when it was offered. “The movie’s depth and level of difficulty made me hit many walls as an actress,” she said, “but I really appreciated the opportunity to play Chigusa Ando.”

The movie toys with the dialectics of vice and virtue, love and hate, strength and weakness; while addressing issues of motherhood and confronting your own destiny. The Japanese title, which literally means “The cicada’s eight days,” is a play on words, too: a cicada is said to live only seven days. The extra day signifies more experience, more knowledge, and more light—what Erina experiences in her search for identity. But will this bring happiness or more pain? Watch the film and find out.

Yokame no Semi is currently playing at theaters nationwide. Alexandra Homma writes for Japan Today