Kakekomi Onna To Kakedashi Otoko

I was recently invited to the world premier of a Japanese film called Kakekomi Onna To Kakedashi Otoko (2015). I suppose the English title would be Running in Woman and Running out Man, it is a jidaigeki or period film directed by Masato Harada, whom I associate with contemporary films like  Kamikaze Taxi and Bounce Kogals. It seems that Shochiku, the company who produced the film, is promoting this as their foreign awards entry since the premiere had the film shown with English subtitles to a mixed audience of Japanese and foreigners at the International Forum near Tokyo station. It is also Shochiku's 120th anniversary and it is the studio is known for having produced the films of directors such as directors include Yasujiro Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Keisuke Kinoshita and Yoji Yamada. So they may have wanted to produce a traditional story based on a novel by Hisashi Inoue. The story centers around Tokei-ji, which is a Buddhist temple in Kamakura, Japan. The Tokei-ji helps women who are abused by their husbands and helps them get divorced which is difficult if there is no mutual consent, i.e. if the husbands don't agree. There are three main female characters who are seeking divorce for various reasons: Jgo (Erika Toda), O-gin (Hikari Mitsushima) and a violent drunken samurai's wife (Rina Uchiyama). A man, Nobujiro Nakamura (Yo Oizumi) with ties to the temple must also seek refuge there since he is a doctor and aspiring writer and all entertainment has been banned in Edo. The doctor provides the comedy in this comedy-drama and therein lies the main problem with the film that is trying to be a tragedy, love story, and comedy all at once.