''Meet the In-Laws'' () is a 2011 South Korean film directed by Kim Jin-young, starring

Song Sae-byeok Song Sae-byeok (born December 25, 1979) is a South Korean actor. After gaining attention as a supporting actor in '' The Servant'' (2010), Song played the leading roles in the comedies '' Meet the In-Laws'' (2011) and ''The Suck Up Project: Mr. ...

and

Lee Si-young Lee Si-young (born Lee Eun-rae on April 17, 1982) is a South Korean actress and former amateur boxer. Early life Born Lee Eun-rae in Cheongwon County, North Chungcheong Province, her family moved to Seoul when she was 9 years old. Lee majore ...

. The Korean title literally translates to "Dangerous Formal Greeting Between Families of the Bride and Bridegroom," hence the alternate English titles ''Clash of the Families'' and ''Dangerous Meeting''. A comedic take on star-crossed lovers set after the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, the film explores the deep-rooted regionalism that has dogged various aspects of Korean society, particularly the antagonism between people from southeastern Gyeongsang and people from

Jeolla Jeolla Province (, ) was one of the historical Eight Provinces of Korea during the Kingdom of Joseon in today Southwestern Korea. It consisted of the modern South Korean provinces of North Jeolla, South Jeolla and Gwangju Metropolitan City as w ...

Plot

Naive, pure-hearted Hyun-joon writes

romance comics Romance comics is a comics genre depicting strong and close romantic love and its attendant complications such as jealousy, marriage, divorce, betrayal, and heartache. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published t ...

under the pseudonym "Hyun-ji." He becomes pen pals with Da-hong, and the two fall in love and begin dating. When Da-hong reveals that her father is forcing her to go on matchmaking dates with other men, Hyun-joon impulsively decides to propose to her. But Hyun-joon hails from humble roots in

South Jeolla Province South Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollanam-do''; ), also known as Jeonnam, is a province of South Korea. South Jeolla has a population of 1,902,324 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Honam region at the southwestern tip of the Korean ...

, and the couple knows that Da-hong's wealthy Gyeongsang family will instantly disapprove of him because of this. Unbeknownst to them, their respective fathers were also bitter rivals in high school baseball. So when Hyun-joon goes to

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...

to ask for Da-hong's hand in marriage, he hides his accent and pretends to be from Apgujeong, the ritziest area in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

. As her relatives scrutinize, intimidate and spy on him, Hyun-joon is determined to overcome all their obstacles and marry Da-hong.

Cast

as Hyun-joon *

as Da-hong *

Baek Yoon-sik Baek Yoon-sik (born 16 March 1947) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his characteristic near-expressionless facial acting. Career Baek Yoon-sik made his debut in 1970 on KBS TV. In the coming years he would appear in four films, taking l ...

as Young-kwang *

Kim Soo-mi Kim Soo-mi (born Kim Young-ok on September 3, 1949) is a South Korean actress. She has had a prolific career in film and television. Kim debuted in a talent contest in 1970, then shot to fame in ''Country Diaries''. The landmark TV series aired f ...

as Choon-ja *

Kim Eung-soo Kim Eung-soo (; born February 12, 1961) is a South Korean actor. Kim lived in Japan for seven years, where he studied filmmaking at the Japan Institute of the Moving Image The , formerly known as the Yokohama Broadcasting Technical School, is a ...

as Se-dong *

Park Chul-min Park Chul-min (born January 18, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Career Park Chul-min began acting in his high school drama club at Chosun University High School, and though he majored in Business Administration at Chung-Ang University, he spen ...

as Dae-sik *

Kim Jung-nan Kim Jung-nan (born Kim Hyun-ah on July 16, 1971) is a South Korean actress. Kim made her acting debut in 1991, but received a new surge of popularity after starring in '' A Gentleman's Dignity'' in 2012. Filmography Film Television series R ...

as Young-ja * Jung Sung-hwa as Woon-bong *

Park Hyo-joo Park Hyo-joo (born October 8, 1982) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her leading role in the period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainm ...

as Jin-kyung * Kim Do-yeon as Yoon-sook * Jung Woong-in as man on blind date ( cameo) * Lee Young-beom as Park Nam-jung's manager (cameo) *

Gil Hae-yeon Gil Hae-yeon ( ko, 길해연) is a South Korean actress. She is best known to North American audiences for her performance in the film '' In Her Place'', for which she garnered a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress at th ...

as Housekeeper (cameo) * Kim Yang-woo as Gay boyfriend (cameo) * Choi Jae-hwan as Jeolla old-timer (cameo) *

Lee Han-wi Lee Han-wi (born June 17, 1961) is a South Korean actor. Since his acting debut in 1983, Lee has become a prolific supporting actor A supporting actor is an actor who performs a role in a play or film below that of the leading actor(s), and ...

as Coffee shop DJ (cameo) * Park Nam-jung as himself (cameo) * Ha Il-seong as narrator

Box office

''Meet the In-Laws'' was the ninth best-selling Korean film of 2011, grossing (or ) with 2,595,625 tickets sold.

Spin-off

Kim Jin-young directed a spin-off in 2015, ''

Enemies In-Law ''Enemies In-Law'' (; lit. "Dangerous Meeting of In-Laws 2" or "Clash of the Families 2") is a 2015 South Korean film directed by Kim Jin-young, starring Jin Se-yeon and Hong Jong-hyun. It is a spin-off (or thematic sequel) to '' Meet the In-Laws ...

''. Though not technically a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

given its different characters, the film's plot is also about an engaged couple facing familial disapproval, this time because the woman is from a family of police officers and the man's parents are criminals.

References

External links

*
''Meet the In-Laws''
at Naver * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meet the In-Laws 2011 films 2010s Korean-language films South Korean comedy-drama films 2011 comedy-drama films Films set in South Jeolla Province 2010s South Korean films