DirectorPark Heung-shik Music directorJo Seong-woo LanguageKorean
WriterPark Heung-shik, Song Hye-jin Release dateJune 30, 2004 (2004-06-30) Initial releaseJune 30, 2004 (South Korea) ScreenplaySong Hye-jin, Park Heung-shik CastJeon Do-yeon (Na-young/young Yeon-soon), Park Hae-Il (Jin-kook), Ko Du-Shim (Yeon-soon) Similar moviesJeon Do-yeon appears in My Mother - the Mermaid and Secret Sunshine
My mother the mermaid teaser
My Mother, the Mermaid (Hangul: 인어공주; Hanja: 人漁公主; RR: Ineo gongju; lit. "The Mermaid Princess") is a 2004 South Korean 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.
Na-young (Jeon Do-yeon) is an office worker who lives with her seemingly emotionally non-existent father Jin-kook (Kim Bong-geun), and loud cynical mother Yeon-soon (Go Doo-shim). 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 young woman (Jeon Do-yeon) working hard as a haenyo to send her younger brother to school to get the education she never received. Her father is a charming man (Park Hae-il) who works as a postmaster who delivers mail all over the town where her mother lived. He befriends Yeon-soon and teaches her 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.
Awards and nominations
2004 Busan Film Critics Awards
Best Supporting Actress - Go Doo-shim
2004 Blue Dragon Film Awards
Nomination - Best Film
Nomination - Best Director - Park Heung-sik
Nomination - Best Actress - Jeon Do-yeon
Nomination - Best Supporting Actress - Go Doo-shim
Nomination - Best Cinematography - Choi Young-taek
2004 Korean Film Awards
Best Actress - Jeon Do-yeon
Best Supporting Actress - Go Doo-shim
Nomination - Best Actor - Park Hae-il
Nomination - Best Screenplay - Park Heung-sik and Song Hye-jin
Nomination - Best Cinematography - Choi Young-taek
Nomination - Best Art Direction - Cho Geun-hyun
Nomination - Best Music - Jo Seong-woo
2004 Director's Cut Awards
Best Actress - Jeon Do-yeon
2005 Baeksang Arts Awards
Best Director - Park Heung-sik
Nomination - Best Actress - Jeon Do-yeon
2005 Chunsa Film Art Awards
Best Actress - Jeon Do-yeon
2005 Grand Bell Awards
Nomination - Best Director - Park Heung-sik
Nomination - Best Actress - Jeon Do-yeon
Nomination - Best Supporting Actress - Go Doo-shim
Nomination - Best Screenplay - Park Heung-sik and Song Hye-jin