My Mother, the Mermaid is a 2004

2004 in film

The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...

 South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

n film about a young woman who quarrels with her mother but is somehow transported back in time and sees her parents' courtship. In her youth, her mother was a haenyeo, a traditional freediver

Free-diving

Freediving is any of various aquatic activities that share the practice of breath-hold underwater diving. Examples include breathhold spear fishing, freedive photography, apnea competitions and, to a degree, snorkeling...

.

IMDB claims the literal translation of the title is The Little Mermaid.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417782/releaseinfo#akas However a more exact translation of 인어공주 is understood by looking at its Hanja

Hanja

Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...

 roots; 人漁公主. 人漁 mean 'mermaid' http://endic.naver.com/krenEntry.nhn?entryId=6d4a49d028f64f9aa1438b2763659297&query=%EC%9D%B8%EC%96%B4 and 公主 means '(royal) princess'http://endic.naver.com/krenEntry.nhn;jsessionid=C6DB8729C2C8C908037944EF70BA4E90?entryId=b6629a6be89848029096fce1982ff5d2&query=%EA%B3%B5%EC%A3%BC. So a true literal translation should be The Mermaid Princess.

Synopsis

Na-young is an office worker who lives with her seemingly emotionally non-existent father; Jin-kook, and loud cynical mother; Yeon-soon. As time passes she is becoming more and more like her mother Yeon-soon.

One day her father suddenly disappears and she skips her international airplane flight to find him. By entering her father's hometown she is somehow transported back in time to when her parents' relationship was just beginning. She meets her mother; now a poor woman working hard as a haenyeo to send her younger brother to school to get the education she never received. Her father is a charming man who delivers the mail and befriends / teaches Yeon-soon how to read and write.

Na-Young is taken in by the young Yeon-soon and, as they are now roughly the same age, the two become very close. Na-Young is able to experience the trials, heartbreaks, and celebrations of Yeon-soon before she herself is suddenly transported back into the present time.

Cast

Jeon Do-yeon

Jeon Do-yeon

Jeon Do-yeon is a highly-acclaimed South Korean actress who has won many awards including best actress at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival...

 as Na-young

Jeon Do-yeon

Jeon Do-yeon

Jeon Do-yeon is a highly-acclaimed South Korean actress who has won many awards including best actress at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival...

 as young Yeon-soon

Park Hae-il

Park Hae-il

Park Hae-il is a South Korean actor.-Career:Park Hae-il began appearing in theatre productions ever since childhood, and he first established himself on stage rather than on the screen. In 2000 he was awarded the Best New Actor award in the theatre category of the Baeksang Art Awards for his role...

 as young Jin-kook

Ko Du-shim as Yeon-soon

Kim Bong-geun as Jin-kook