Secret Love Affair (2014)

This drama gets 10 points for atmosphere. They nailed it every time. This drama has attitude and personality which other stereotypical Kdramas severely lack. The mood is perfect. It never loses that beautiful, sophisticated and upper-class feel no matter what happens.

I was fanning myself over the talk about the duet.
I love it when film captures the smexiness of the piano. Not at lot of soundtrack, which is a good move so that the piano moments are really attention grabbing. Also, you know that Korean soundtracks can be cheesy, so best to keep it empty. Also, that moment when they introduce a riff and you know you're going to love it and it's going to mean a lot to you by the end of the drama.
I love the idea of falling in love with someone's music before the person themselves. Or how you can know a person so intimately just from hearing them play.

I liked the unexpected moments of intensity without the swooping slow motion or romantic riff. The actors don't need the music to portray the emotion.
At first, the age gap was difficult, but as the feelings and the characters became more entwined, it felt more and more natural. And the piano really was the winning factor. I can understand if anyone falls in love over a piano.
They really contrast Hye Won's calm steadiness with Sun Jae's girlfriend's teenage hysterics.

“When a woman reaches forty, dignity is the biggest charm.”

Hye Won

“I will take the filth. That's my specialty.”

I initially thought that she would trapped in a glitzy world due to her husband. But she's actually in the upper rich circles because she's a secretary to a rich family. Hye Won has classy sophistication.
This lady is competent and exciting.

“People who think this is my weakness...are so obvious. I'm not scared at all.”
“I'm only clumsy with you. Outside, I'm cunning beyond your imagination.”

She plays a dangerous game among the conglomerate family all hungry for what they want and wanting to use Hye Won to make it happen. Hye Won holds secret after secret from each family member.
Hye Won's acting is convincing every step of the way. I understood her.
The way she expressed her awkward love for Sun Jae was really subtle and tasteful and how the people around her could tell because she never says more than she has to and suddenly she's volunteering information about this student.

Sun Jae
“Yesterday, I just played what I heard.”
Oh, the smokin' metre just went up a notch. Musical prowess is so sexy.

“I gave everything to that Goddess.”

He's attracted to her mentoring, her approval, her mothering.
Poor Sun Jae, trying so hard to make a good impression when the rich couple comes to his house. It's comical. He treats Hye Won well, because he feels so inferior to her. You can see how dazzling he sees her. And she laps it up.

And the first time Sun Jae actually speaks his mind. And he is indeed a man. How nice.
“You just need to love me. You've got nothing to lose when clearly I love you more.”

Romance

I'm not sure if it was the way the romance was set out or was it purely the age gap/cultural gap that bothered me. But by episode 12 the relationship still wasn't making sense to me.

Someone said she didn't seduce him. But there are a few blurred lines because she's so fascinated with his music, she's hungry for it. And he just eats up the attention.
He's also never shared music with anyone, and to have her, the epitome of all that is graceful, elegant and powerful in the music world...oh the meaning
I'm not sure about Yoo Ah In's portrayal though. I'm not getting the chemistry.
At first, I understood Hye Won's passion for this musical genius. The youth, the freshness, the interpretation.
Throughout the show I had conflicting views on the relationship but by the end I was firmly in the camp of "does not compute".

Musical Moments

Ep. 6 The sweeping music in the shabby conditions is making an effect on me. That despite all this, this is really a beautiful moment.

Episode 7. I'm glad they made sure he was playing the right notes. I'm pitch perfect, I can tell.
Interesting to see how nothing shakes her but a few words from him and she's riled.

Episode 10. What's this piece again? Rachmaninoff Theme of of Paganini – love it.

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DUMPSTER FIRE

Holy crap is this a bad drama. The acting is horrible, the chemistry is listless and awkward. The story is shallow and uninteresting. The music is uninspired and poorly timed. The whole thing feels like porn-quality story without any actual porn. I'll be honest, I didn't finish this drama. I mean...ok I watched parts of all the episodes but it was so boring and lame-duck that I'd get a few minutes into the episodes, skip ahead, watch a bit more, and then eventually just be like uuuuugh maybe it gets better later, and then move to the next episode. I couldn't find a single solitary redeeming thing about this Kdrama and I feel like I wasted several hours of my life trying.

So what's left. If the acting is bad, the story is bad, everything else is bad... What's even left for a drama like this? Only the romance. If they could have pulled off the romance maybe maybe there'd be some redeeming quality to this drama. But the chemistry between the lead actors is so so bad. It's like high-school level awkward romance when you're not even really sure how kissing works or why you'd even do it. The interactions between these actors should have been full of romantic tension with complex emotions like shame and guilt...but instead it was all so very monotone. Even the guilt was monotone. Everything was this super bland gray of a pointless exercise in mediocrity. It was basically room temperature unseasoned tofu level bland.

Maybe if you're really into those weird Victorian era dime novels where the only romance comes on the last page for a brief kiss...maybe then you'd like this? It's basically like a romance you'd expect a grandma from the 1950s would enjoy. It's the kind of romantic interaction you imagine your parents having because it's too cringe to think of them actually being romantic.

Avoid this drama unless you're stranded in a post-apocalyptic bunker and it's one of two shows left in the world and the other show is season 1 of Marvel's Inhumans.

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Intensely perfect

I really adored this drama. It’s different and quite particular like a dry wine which makes it all the more special. The two leads flawlessly acted the screenplay and the silences are quite pregnant that this is one of the most beautiful pieces of television I have beheld. Yoo Ah In is especially top notch. Plus Kim Hee-ae character is one of the few female leads who never annoyed.

As for the story - it’s particular . If you are not drawn in by the synopsis at first then this might be a strenuous watch. However if you are intrigued and very interested then you will get quite the opposite . You will get a rewarding experience full of beautiful classical pieces and tense scenes and an overwhelming sense of honour and nobility in unkind circumstances.

It’s also quite the education. The class system is relavantly depicted in all its unfair cruel light and one is made distinctly aware of strata , status and class in South Korea.

Would I classify it as a love story ? No , not really . This is more a story of two individuals with a passion for music living in a dispassionate society yet they are paradoxically filled with intense passion. This passion then as a consequence breeds a thrilling romance between the two to culminate into a wholesome story of courage and honour in the guise of tragedy,

Is it good for rewatches . No not really . Just like that dry wine I was talking of earlier- this drama only comes in one bottle and the pleasure cannot be recreated . It’s special.

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She carries the whole show on her frail shoulders.

The lead actress as my title suggests, is the pièce maîtresse of this show. Her acting is awesome not once did she fall into the basic "cold demeanour" act the role would have led many actresses into. I've seen it so often when an actress has to play a cunning/ambitious character they tend to fall for the cold-blooded stereotypes and it often end up feeling a bit caricaturist...here, she didn't. She managed something fascinating that I will refer to as lukewarm for lack of a better term. I was truly intrigued and fascinated. She managed to be appear distinguished, witty and levelheaded yet pitifully weak and distasteful. But all the while inciting warmth. This is a case in which the main character REALLY is THE MAIN CHARACTER. She carried this whole thing on her back.

The sidepiece she succumbed to was cute. I liked him but he had the tendency to overdo the "borderline autistic" act which was cringey at times. However I really liked his naivety.
The whole dynamic within the wealthy family felt alien to me. I just couldn't understand the motivation behind so many of their actions...it made little sense and seemed to just serve the as a way to give the illusion that everything was more dramatic and complicated because of how lacking the scenario was.
The supporting cast in this fell flat. Usually, the supporting cast adds value to a drama and in some cases saves it but here it was pretty much the opposite. I only cared for the the main actress's storyline.
Nonetheless I still found enjoyment watching it. The fact that I like piano in general probably helped. Could have done with less slowmo during the piano lessons/showcases but really what do I know about cinematography?

Most dramas, even those that I absolutely love, have anywhere from terribly disappointing to so-so endings. This one breaks from that pattern. I liked the ending and felt content with it.

Side note concerning the woman playing the main character:
When I look at her face there's something within me that feels unusual.
l haven't managed to put into words. It's a weird emotion that makes me uneasy and slightly sad. I felt that way watching A Wife's Credentials and not because of the storyline or the unfortunate events the character she played went through. It's just her face and the aura around her. I don't know if anyone else feels that way but I do.

I want to grant the main actress a 10/10 but since I can't rate her separately, it's frustrating but I will give the acting/cast a 6 at most.

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Not quite there...

I'm kinda disappointed, maybe I expected too much judging by who's behind it. It started off heading in one direction then ended up in a different direction. They took away the focus from the relationship/affair and brought the company issues in its place. The relationship already lacked depth and development but neglecting it in the later episodes harmed the drama even more. Speaking of which, I didn't like how they laid out the story with the any of the characters outside the 2 main ones. There was also no real tension or consequences to the affair. The husband failed to play any meaningful role in the story. The main leads brought a good performance but the same can't be said about the rest. Although, whenever there was a moment that required the leads to act "feeling guilty" it came across as artificial, they could have done better with these scenes. Which brings me to my last point that is the production, it was kinda a hit or miss, sometimes it was wonderful while other times was totally distasteful and experimental. Some transitions were off, as if some scenes were cut short and abruptly. At least the music bits were good. It's still a decent drama but not a one that I would recommend from this genre.

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Music Conquers All

This is an old drama, and I was extremely intrigued by the plot, so decided to give it a go. The first episode was quite confusing for me, the characters just come and go on in the screen, and no explanations are given as to who is whom. The overall pace of the drama was also a little slow. The editing was also quite jarred, so there were times when the scene cuts were very random. Also the way each episode ended was so annoying, with it stopping at one random scene, and that loud piano shaking the viewer out of their senses. Not necessary to end each episode with a loud BAM on the piano.
The acting, on the other hand, was superb. Top notch acting from all the actors. Yoo Ah In deserves special mention for the absolutely brilliant job that he's done here. The facial expressions of the actors while playing the piano were a bit too loud and exaggerated, but that's okay I guess... It's an old drama, and a melodrama at that. So this much leeway the show deserves I guess. Apart from the lead characters, the rest of the characters felt very unidimensional to me. They were just rich and bitchy. I was annoyed with the Seo family till the very end. Despite these flaws, the actors acted their parts well. No qualms on the acting department.
However, the main star of the show is its OST. It's very rare that k-drama OSTs are musically good. They are either too kpop-ish or they're just loud. But this one does such a brilliant job of maintaining the "Forbidden Affair" theme musically. The music is taut with tension, and so measured, and yet packs so much passion into it.
The ending of the drama was a bit meh, I didn't like the way it ended. The pace was also inconsistent, it got slow at parts, but it still managed to hold the attention of the audience. And that was just because of the OST that stringed each scene and character so well with the progress of the story.
Overall, watch it for the lead couple's acting, and for the interesting subject matter. The lead actors acted really well, and the director treated their romance with care and consideration. It never felt overtly raunchy or oedipal. A decent one time watch.

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I'm so upset that it's titled, "Secret Love Affair" rather than something more... poetic? Because that's what I feel this drama was.

The on screen chemistry of the main couple really shone, despite... or... maybe because of their age gap and maturity levels. I don't usually root for story lines like this, because cheating and affairs and the like are usually a tired trope and not done well, and I usually end off feeling really bad and guilty for the third party.

But... I think it's safe to say that this particular instance was anything but an affair, really, considering the relationship and the dynamic that was going on for miss Oh Hye Won. Her acting is so damn good, and at times, despite her rashness and her greed at some points, I felt like I was rooting for her, I wanted her so badly to be free and to love and be just... happy.

The music, the cinematography, the love/chemistry, and the acting were just top notch in this. I really, really enjoyed it.

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Yoo Ah In and Kim Hee Ae is breathtaking

The chemistry between Yoo Ah In and Kim Hee Ae is breathtaking. I am obsessed with these two, Oh Hye Won and Lee Sun Jae. Moreover, the whole drama is an emotional rollercoaster. From Episode One to the sixteen, a crazy ride. My favorite parts are the secret love affair parts and the piano playing parts. The next thing is the Screenplay, cinematography, music, acting, editing, and directing! All of them out of this world. also, the ending is sad, wild, and crazy! I wish there was another episode, where the ending is a bit clearer and shows the future between Oh Hye Won and Lee Sun Jae.

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This drama was almost flawless for me. I avoided it because I don’t like affair dramas but I decided to give it a chance. I’m so glad I did. Though I did get weary of the business intrigue plot line, it was completely necessary and gave the FL the depth her character needed. She was one cool lady, for sure. I don't think I could have the chutzpah she had to do what she ultimately did. Yoo Ah In broke my heart. Honest to goodness ugly crying happened up in here. I’d like to blame it on hormones but it was really because of his perfect acting and an amazing story. Shiny faces aside (seriously, why?), this one is a must watch.

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Passionate Love Story with Beautiful Classical Music

I really love this wonderful drama. At first, I did not want to watch it because of the subject matter (Secret love affair between teacher and student; married mature woman and young man; etc). But after discovering Kim Hee-Ae from "The World of the Married" (where she acted so well), I decided to watch this drama too; plus I love Yoo Ah-In's visual and acting in period drama Jang Ok Jung. The starting, I thought it was slow and boring, but as the story progressed, I got hooked by the piano music and the relationship between the main leads, and binge-watched this in 2 days. The acting and performance by the main leads were excellent, their passion for music and for each other was so intense and incredible, and I LOVE LOVE the classical music played throughout this drama. It made me love piano classical music again. This drama has a mature theme, and it is not for everyone.
But if you like classical music and forbidden love theme, perhaps you can give this drama a try.

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