In Short: This is the most emotionally involved I’ve been with a drama so far. The entire series (including the end) is expertly plotted and acted. Not for everyone, but if you tolerate some thoughtfully slow pacing, this is the melodrama for you.
Pros: Well directed, well cast, well written and beautifully shot. Through a 20 year age difference, the lead couple sizzled in a realistic way.
Cons: Yoo Ah In is significantly older than 20, and you can sort of tell. The acting (and some thoughtful styling and makeup) pulls it off though.
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Ahn Pan Seok has a certain way with his dramas. The themes may not always be the exact same but the atompshere and auras are instantly recognisable. There is a lot of secret, underwordly dealings regarding corruption and extortion. It's a battle for control. So when you have the young, pure hearted Sun Jae who just wants to play piano and be with Hye-won, there is a wide contrast. And that's what makes this such a good drama. The story is so compelling with its characters, how they react to each other and the constant changing in surroundings. Despite the age and class gap between our leads, there is undeniable chemistry between the two. Whether it's on the computer chatting under aliases or when playing music, especially when playing music, in fact. You are rooting for them from their first meeting. And while Sun Jae is also in a very ambigious relationship with his friend/girlfriend Da Mi, you can only root for Sun Jae's quest for Hye-won's heart. Although it's hard to tell who is the most passionately driven in the relationship. It's unbowing. Perhaps Hye-won's actions for the ending prove that she was indeed the most in love.
Yoo Ah In is the best actor that can get so much out of hardly any expressions. In the series, he comes off as so shy and withdrawn and yet we can feel his drive and love. Kim Hee Ae is tremendous as the classy, elite director. She is bold and calculating but under tempation, we see a whole other world of emotions. The chemistry between the two is quite high up for K-Drama couples as far as I'm concerned. It's quite amazing that they were able to take in their age gap and make that even better for their chemistry. Yoo Ah In's character calls Kim Hee Ae's character a goddess numerous times due to her age and it totally works and perfectly sums up their relationship. The younger character is so humble and naive that he would consider the older character like that. Just little things like this makes Secret Love Affair a wonderfully crafted drama.
Plus this has the best use of music than any other musically themed drama I've seen. It brings to life the very meaning behind music. The music and the performances of Sun Jae perfectly tell us what he's feeling without words. That is music. Come for the great cast and acting but stay for the music.
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This review may contain spoilers
The Beauty and Tenderness of Love
Anyone who watches this series, hoping for a depiction of a torrid, passionate love affair will be disappointed.This series is handled with a certain delicacy; a restraint that doesn't prevent or hold back, but depicts the tender beauty of two people in love. I submit that a viewer may find it very difficult to pass judgment, for how does one justify judging love? Can love be judged?
To the naive viewer, Sunjae Lee is a young man, barely 20, who thinks and feels with his hormones. This is a gross misinterpretation and understanding of who he is. Sunjae Lee is a simple young man who knows how to do things in only one way: with love and passion. A gifted pianist, Sunjae is able to captivate his audiences, whether they be a concert hall or a few listeners, not with just the beauty of his play, but with the heart and passion he puts into it. Several viewers are so captivated by his play, that he moves them to tears. It is a bit ironic that a young man of 20 already knows the secret to love and living simply.
Oh Hyewon is a middle-aged woman, approximately twenty years older than Sunjae. A renowned pianist when she was Sunjae's age, she has now found herself pulled into the world of wealth and power. She works for a Seohan Art Institute as an executive/accountant. She loves the life that her money buys for her, and she has long forgotten the passion and her own love for music. She is married to a university professor, who also works for the institute. They share a house and a life that is more like those of roommates than of spouses. There is little tenderness or warmth in their relationship or in their house, which looks like a cold bastille atop the street. It is somewhat ironic that the only room in the house that has any warmth at all, is the music room.
Sunjae's talent is soon discovered, and he's asked to come over to the professor's house to play. Hyewon is asked to listen, given her musical background. Immediately, she is taken back to a time when she used to share the same love and passion for music that Sunjae has. Hyewon can't help but be enamored by the young man, unable to realize that she has already captivated him.
There is a certain degree of irony in their relationship, in which Hyewon attempts to teach Sunjae about her world; the world of power and treachery. It is a world that is completely foreign to Sunjae, and he already realizes that he wants no part of it. He is not interested in money or acquiring things. And yet, it is his simple and complete way of loving, that makes him Hyewon's teacher in that regard.
The acting performances are all first-rate, especially those of Ah-in Yoo (Sunjae) and Hui-ai Kim (Hyewon). The relationship between these two characters is handled deftly, like a piano piece...full of love, beauty, and grace. Viewers may find themselves longing for their own "Sunjae"...someone who can love so unequivocally and unconditionally as Sunjae can. His love is all the more profound in the little things that he does to ensure her comfort.
One cannot mention this series without the incredible musical performances. Nearly every episode has a piano piece that seems to perfectly coincide with the feelings of Sunjae and Hyewon. Watching this series is like listening to a long concert, and by the end, you feel all the better for it!
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Detailed:
So, the tags for this one include things like Infidelity and Corruption, and I saw others using words like "Revenge" - I must admit I hadn't seen this one as a likely hit for me. I like positive dramas and after watching a couple of Revenge ones I found they're just not to my taste at all. But... it was listed on a recent article on this site in a list of five dramas, four of which I had seen and agreed wholeheartedly with the article author - so I felt that surely this one must be a good bet. I thank the author, Devil's Advocate, for their recommendation!
The infidelity topic is a sensitive one, it's not something I'm normally interested in watching either because often it's somewhat sleazy or purely sexual - and while i'm certainly no prude, it's just not what I come to KDrama for. I was interested to see how this was portrayed, and also because dated in 2014 before Adultery was decriminalised (Korean Penal Code 241), how/if they would handle the criminal aspect of it.
This is a slow paced drama, it's about the imagery of what you're seeing, how you take in the emotions and feelings of the characters and understand what they are going through. Where this one takes it a step further however is through the use of music, particularly the Piano - my favourite instrument. It was a joy to watch the actors perform on the Piano, I don't know if they are as classically trained as it appears but at the end of the day that doesn't matter, they are believable in their performances with keystrokes matching the sounds and the raw emotion of the pieces expressed throughout their whole body movements as they played. When a musician plays a piece of music, they don't just play the Piano with their fingers or hands, it's played with the entire body, and that's exactly how they portrayed it. There was a particularly brilliant scene early on in the drama where the two are playing a two-person piece together on the same Piano and it's super obvious that it's a sexually charged scene with all the energy that implies and yet there's just two people playing the Piano.
Throughout the drama there are many times that you'll be sitting and listening to the music, whether it's because that's what is happening in the story or because there's something else going on and the music is accompanying. You're going to want to like slower contemplatory scenes with the music to listen to or you may find your focus drifting away, personally I was captivated.
The director has also done a magnificent job, the scene where they first get together in his home, with some seemingly random stationary camera shots at various objects around the room you almost feel like you're in the room looking around at anything you can to not look at the two, but you can't help but hear odd things that they say. It was probably one of the better ways i've seen of expressing that "they hooked up" without going anywhere near anything traditional for this. The rest of the drama continues with a similar quality approach.
The FL goes through a personal journey of discovery about what is important to her, and where she is in her life and her status. While the ML's character is great he is there to shine a light on her life, this is her story more than it is theirs.
They DO cover the criminal aspect of Adultery as well just to resolve the point I raised earlier.
Many recognisable faces in the cast but I absolutely felt that Kim Hee Ae was glorious in her performance and I shall certainly be looking out more from her (and indeed the director).
Only minor dent for me? and it really is minor given the weight of the rest of the story - I just like them to end a little longer, it was a nice ending but I wanted more. Maybe I just didn't want it to end. I'm like that when I get into good characters in a good story though.
I loved it and certainly recommend it.
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Did they ever deliver on that one.
This is hands down the best drama I've ever watched. It may or may not age into being one of the best things I ever see on screen, but there is a good chance of that happening; and there is no way I won't remember it as a profound influence on who I am and who I was when I first watched it.
That's what this drama is, you see: a zeitgeist. Solely by character study, it captures the frustration of the class divide, and both the actions and the attitudes that preserve it. These it explores from a wealth of perspectives, telling you who a character is by showing you how they think and act. This effortful characterization goes into almost every side character in the show, loveable and hateable alike (and there are good reasons both to love and to hate every one of them); but nowhere as powerfully as when the two leads are in focus.
In classic Movie Appreciation course fashion, it's quite possible to classify them as two philosophical perspectives - Oh Hye Won as the pragmatist and Lee Seon Jae the hedonist - but that's label-gloss, to talk about what they consider important. Large, complex, and tense as the world may be that this show lives in, the whole thing is quite neatly reducible to an extended conversation between these two, arguing about what they care about and how they're going about achieving it.
And providing the throughline, the reason they are having this conversation at all, is the music - grand, melancholic, seductive, consuming. The way the leads are involved in it involves us - you have never in your life listened quite as closely to anything as you have to Schubert's Fantasie as you will while watching Yoo Ah In play it, and Kim Hee Ae listen, transfixed, in the background. Once trapped into paying attention, not once will the soundtrack misstep and let you go. Everything your ears experience for the next fifteen hours, however you divide them up, will have immodest effect on you, and on what you're seeing in even the most innocent exchanges. The story, the acting, the camera, all of it sets you up to be involved, provoked, and entertained - but the music is what makes it matter, in your gut, when even the briefest of glances is stolen, the lightest touch committed. Its presence or absence lends the punch to every word spoken. And in scenes when it's being played by any of the characters - well, good luck trying to focus on anything else.
The pacing is neither slow nor fast. You have the time to savor things, and to appreciate the setting and the world. The external conflict isn't simplistic, for all that it plays second fiddle; it's given its due weight, both in screentime and in how much it matters. Nowhere do you feel redundancy set in; the writer manages to bring some freshness even to the tired chaebol rogues gallery, by not tiptoeing around the foot-level dirty work involved. A little fatigue could set in around the third quarter, but compared to most dramas this is minimal.
The color palette is warm, and the visuals are set up to be striking rather than rich or polished. Superb camerawork, for all that the music is the star of the show; it works organically with the scene and actors, and follows a poetry of its own that becomes more or less subtle depending on the moment.
Rewatching will be for three possible reasons: a)fully understanding the sometimes too-subtle plot, and following the threads that involve the less critical side characters; b) trying to form new perspectives on the show as a whole because we're all wannabe philospohers like that; or c) just enjoying the whole experience again, free to savor every moment of the acting, directing, and music at leisure. The last I do quite often.
tl;dr Like a Tolstoy novel, except I started piano lessons after this show because they make it sexy.
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From my paltry background in literature, I spotted hints of themes and characters I studied in The Great Gatsby, an American classic. I'm really, really impressed that a Korean drama is ambitious to go this far in exploring relationships and universal themes that have been a mainstay of other artistic forms. Whether our characters meet the same fate as Gatsby in the book is up to you to find out.
The posters make the affair look like a sizzling romance, but this show is actually light on the physical passion, and heavy on the emotional tension and chemistry. Music is a conduit for the characters to express their passions and emotions, which is much more beautiful and satisfying than physical passion.
The directing is very controlled. There are no sudden movements or harshly lighted scenes, and the earthly tones of the show help contribute to the withheld tone of the show.
The classical music is beautiful in execution, and its use in the show. The background stories of composers is masterfully integrated into the stories of the characters and relationships. I"m really impressed by this aspect. In that sense, the music itself is a character in the show, influencing and speaking into the lives of the characters. This, I think, is the best use of music in a show.
Kim Hee Ae is also extremely controlled in her acting, hence showing her skills as an actress. This control should not be interpreted as stiff; it is actually vital to our understanding of her character. Similarly, Yoo Ah In does a brilliant job of playing a character who is young, rash and passionate, yet a man, mature beyond his years and full of empathy. They have great chemistry too.
I don't usually rewatch dramas, but if I ever do, I can picture myself watching this. This drama is so subtle and controlled in its direction and acting that it'd probably be easy to pick up different messages and emotions from each scene.
Deserves the critical reception it gets.
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A multilayered masterpiece
I honestly wasn’t going to write a review for this, simply because I didn’t know if I would be able to capture in words everything I felt watching it. This is an art film made into a drama, and done well. The story, cinematography, characters, the lack of artificiality, everything was raw. This is not simply a steamy story about a risque affair. It is a slow, seductive, and painful concerto about finding yourself, your center, your own truth, and letting go.Story: It isn’t writing you can skim along the surface with. You have to discern the undercurrents and figure out what’s hidden in everything they say and do. This is the opposite of flash over substance, despite the salacious title. If you can enjoy watching a chess game played with people’s lives and reputations, if you like dynamic lead characters that grow and transcend, and if you like complex and multilayered relationships contrasted with shallow ones, then this is created for you. It is very reminiscent of Les Liaisons Dangereuses in its style and nature, only with more heart.
It was fascinating to observe how we can get caught up in the needs and expectations of others, augmented by our own ambitions, just by living our lives; as a contrast, we also see what happens when a catalyst comes and changes the world around us. In my own mind I keep picturing the main character as a bird in a cage that others keep tightening around her with their own selfish needs. She stays in it for her own desperate sense of security, complacent enough to the point of not realizing how small her world has become until that world is shaken. It is so difficult to watch her start to beat to her wings against the bars that are stifling her.
Production: The cinematography is brilliant: the way they use raindrops and the set itself to truncate the edges of scenes and create a sense of intimacy, the moody and often bleak monochromatic coloring scale. The music, which this entire film is woven around, transports you, even if you’re a layman like I am. Don’t mistake me, I enjoy music deeply, but I have no real knowledge of it, I only recognize what it makes me feel. I can only imagine how profound it might be to someone who actually understands and has a passion for classical music.
Acting: Phenomenal.
Misc: I'm not one to hand out five star reviews just because I liked something. In a lot of ways, this still raised the bar for me. This is a drama that I absolutely could not binge watch the first time around. I had to save it for a time when I could not be distracted by anything, and even then it was so emotionally charged that I had to pull myself out of it and breathe.
There are some people that are naturally not going to like it because things are still very black and white for them, and they haven’t developed a sense that there is always more to a story than that. This is not for the very young or very idealistic, or for those that have the idea of marriage being some sort of sacred thing, regardless of circumstances or differing reasons as to why it might have been entered into.
Unlike far too many western shows, this completely defies making the parts involving intimacy base or gratuitous. The title is meant to be ironic, and you see very quickly the truth of that. Honestly, after the piano sessions, any physical intimacy is a bit anticlimatic.
As an aside, the ending music can be very startling if you’re as wrapped up in it as I was. It made me jump a few times, I won’t lie. I had to start clipping the end because it became like an alarm clock to me- and I developed an internal alarm clock just so I won’t have to ever use a real one. So be forewarned.
TL;DR: Don’t watch this right now, you won't understand what's going on if you couldn’t even get through a review. (That wasn’t what you expected, was it…. ^.^) But seriously, it is complicated, and you'll have to pay attention.
Also, in all honesty, if you’re thinking of going in with preconceived judgements and a fistful of holier-than-thou notions, please don’t bother, it will only make you frustrated. But if you can give them a chance to tell you the tale, and accept the intricacies of being human, then give it a solid try. I’m not one to condone breaking promises of any sort, but I had absolutely no issues with this often sad but still lovely story.
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Emotionally driven.
For me, anything with Yoo Ah In is bound to be a masterpiece acting wise, and Secret Love Affair is no different in that scenario. The best thing about this drama was the acting that the leads portrayed. The awakening in form of confusion and happiness when they realise they are meant to be because their music resonates with each other. The yearning and desperation as the episodes progress because it has gotten more than platonic. This drama has some of the most frustrating characters and moments. It sheds a light on classism that exists in South Korea, the abuse of power, corruption in art industry, and solidarity and passion among those who really care and some amazing portrayal of friendships.This isn’t a drama you can watch with preset morals because there are some things that make you question yourself. You might feel uncomfortable with infidelity but the background and certain relationships make it seem like it’s almost okay. It’s also incredibly slow moving. It’s more emotionally driven than plot driven. If you’re not invested in the main characters, you will want to stop watching it. It’s only in the last four episodes that you see things progressing faster than they did in the earlier episodes. In my opinion it could have been wrapped up in 12 instead of 16.
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This review may contain spoilers
I notice that I'm really drawn to dramas that include forbidden love, affairs, or things of that nature. The cover art for this drama looked great and the premise was promising so I checked it out. The director of a music program at a prestigious school leads a seemingly miserable life. She is always held at the throat by her boss and the higher-up ladies who are total catty bitches. She is constantly under pressure to do everything right because if she doesn't things fall on her. Plus she is married to a pitiful bum who can't do anything for himself and the only reason he achieved such a high status in life is because of her connections. Then suddenly her life seems to take a better turn when she meets a disadvantaged boy who happens to be a classical piano prodigy. He is full of vigor and talent but he doesn't have the resources or connections to make anything of himself. Upon meeting him and setting him up with a scholarship to the school, Hye-Won and Sunjae form a band that blurs the lines between teacher and student.
The most mesmerizing thing about this drama, aside from the dramatic piano pieces that played during some scenes, were the scenes where Hye-Won and Sunjae played together. That. Was. Truly. Something. I can't even describe it. It was more than two people immensely enjoying each other's company. The way they both played to the drum of their hearts in absolute bliss was almost orgasmic. I wish those scenes never ended because they were the best in the show.
The ending was not exactly the way I thought things would go. Hye-Won got a divorce from her husband and ended up going to prison for crimes that she did for one of the families she was associated with. But despite all this, she said that she had never felt freer in life. Once she discovered that she could lead a life full of love and passion with Sunjae she didn't want to go back, so she literally destroyed her own life to rebuild a happier future for herself. Once she got sentenced told Sunjae not to wait for her to be released and go live his life, but of course, he chose to wait for her(while still pursuing his music career). With no husband or careers to think about, they were free at last to fully embrace each other. That is an ending that is beautiful and more satisfying than having them just be together in the end. Realistically relationships between a younger girl/guy and an older man/woman don't play out as smoothly as movies and tv portray them. Love is messy and complicated and sometimes doesn't make sense. But if it feels right, what can you do? 9/10.
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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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A Masterpiece
I searched for this drama cause I saw One Spring Night, by the same director and I was impressed by him. And Secret Affair exceeded my expectations!!This director knows how to play with the emotions of the viewer and he does it in the most elegant way
The acting!! The cast and the protagonist are just perfect!!
The music! The music in this drama is protagonist, the soundtrack is constantly playing in my house now.
Cinematography is just perfect!!
This became my favorite drama. BRAVO!!!
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