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Love so secret you can't see the affair on the screen
Story: Noona romance gets an ultra chaste makeover in this drama that is bent on showing everything except the affair itself.Acting: Yoo Ah-in is a real deal. Unfortunately, the drama is heavy on business scheming nobody cares about so I skipped those parts (it's a lot of skipping!) and can't say anything about actors involved.
Music: classical music stands in for sex and climaxing.
Rewatch Value: For insomniacs only. Yes, it's that boring. Too much politicking, too much piano playing, not enough affair. If you are into noona genre, watch properly steamy Dark Desire (Netflix Mexican drama) instead.
Overall: Like Extracurricular (drama about sex trafficking without sex and trafficking), Secret Affair wants to broach a taboo subject (well, taboo in SK I guess) without being controversial. Hence chastely implied that the couple in question is having an affair without showing sex, while wasting its overlong running time on politics of running a concert or something. Do or don't. If you can't do subject justice due to PG rating requirement perhaps leave it to foreign television that has no such restrictions.
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A SERIES VERY DIFFERENT THAN OTHERS THAT FALL IN THE SAME GENRE
The series is not for everyone it has very different vibes than usual older woman nd younger man genre nd it involves classical plays as it's main theme as ml nd fl are both pianists or experts in that field especially fl nd ml is just beginning nd meets her so if you don't like classical music that much you might find it a bit uninteresting in initial eps but if you don't mind enjoying classical music then you will surely like it. . Now the synopsis A woman who has been living a fake empty life to achieve her goals to belong to the upper class her greed for fame her whole life then one day a young guy enters her life who belongs from a totally different world nd she sees herself in him as how she was in her beginning times as how she had the passion for music nd she sacrificed it all,Just to achieve a life where she feels empty now nd how that young man slowly nd steadily fills her empty life with daily life joys she missed out in her early days,the things she could have enjoyed in her earlier days the meaning of real home nd more, they face a lot of obstacles together but they still persist until end what you will see in this series is the devotion ml had towards the fl nd how fl slowly here n there made mistakes hurt ml but sacrificed everything to protect him so that his life won't be ruined by the society she took all the blame nd more nd how ml just didn't stop supporting her even after she had nothing left nd she even said to everyone nd ml to express herself I recently re-watched it so I remember I will tell you all exact words she said-"the world of music which i had given up, I wanted to exert my influence, as if I was born with such rights, as if they were embedded in my genes, something that no one could take away from me. Then one day in my life, very unexpectedly... a progress report of my life was in front of me. Then the value that I had long forgotten asked me a question. How will I live the rest of my life? I vividly remember that very moment. It was a highlight of my life. It was the moment when, for the very first time in my life.. Someone devoted himself just for me. He didn't give up his life for me or give a romantic confession. He just.. busily wiped the floor of his place. All he did was try to provide a clean seat for me. But then I realized that I had never received such devotion from anyone. That I had even considered myself as a means for success. Me.. who had abused myself into misery. He did everything he could for me, he loved me, he let me lose it all I could've never done it on my own, he gave me what I could call a real home, so I'm thankful. "This series is not for everyone you need to be patient to fully get into it but how they persisted how fl was so strong throughout the series tried to do everything to protect their connection with each other nd how ml was as her solace in all this they had to go through. The casts are yoo ah in and Kim hee ae you all must know them from their other works they were perfect cast for these roles I definitely liked this series I hope you all will understand this series same way I did.Was this review helpful to you?
1st :
lots of piano music tracks wasn't necessary at all except filling the drama
2nd:
lots of flashbacks even from the same ep. which made the drama very slowly and at the same time boring
.
3rd: i couldn't find it
the sub was horrible i tried to figure out the drama as much as i could
.
in spite of all that i was fond of (Yoo ah in) love to (kim hee ah) sooo
his love was pure , innocent & faithful till the end
he tried as much as he can to keep the love relation between them in spite of the big age difference & the
Social level difference
i really loved how he tried to proof his love to her
first time to me to see (yoo ah) but his acting was brilliant but was a little exaggerating while pretending playing piano
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The plot was actually simple, student-teacher x affair. However, since the characters were about to do something wrong, I was expecting to feel so much thrill but I was kind of disappointed that I didn't. I felt like it wasn't enough. The plot was at a very good pace from the beginning and I liked how they incorporated music into it, adds more to its grace and elegance that was just a mask, however... It all went downhill. It got a bit boring and so many other things were incorporated which I think wasn't necessary for the main point of the story.
Despite the lack of thrill in the story, the cast is still inexplicably amazing. The acting was definitely superb and Kim Hee Ae and Yoo Ah In, along with the supporting cast delivered their roles well.
No doubt about the music that it's beautiful. I really love classical music because I think that it's very pleasing to the ear. I was really surprised that Yoo Ah In was actually the one playing the piano.
Overall, the plot was not that good but the acting and music were amazing. If the plot was given more thrill, I would've looked more forward to finishing the whole drama faster. Yoo Ah In and Kim Hee Ae had chemistry and I'm so glad that they pulled it off! I'd only recommend this if you love the lead actors, but I got bored with its pacing and plot. The Classical music in the drama is a very good bonus tho!
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I am NO fan of infidelity, in fact it’s a big turn off for and I don’t hesitate to stop watching even if the plot line is good. I watched this one because I was very curious to see Yoo Ah In’s artistic interpretation of Sung Jae ‘s character. I think he is the most versatile actor I’ve ever seen (check out The Throne in Netflix). He has my highest respect in accepting projects with extraordinary roles. But this review is not about YAI, sad though that may be. I dropped the show after they caved in to their physical attraction in episode 8 but did read recaps of the remaining 8 episodes, big thanks to https://noonasoverforks.com/2014/03/19/secret-love-affair-episode-1-review/.To me SLA calls out the elephant in the room, can two people, 20 years apart, really fall in love and remain in a marriage relationship? Not that the drama ever showed the main leads marry. Oh Hye Won represented what ladies yearn the most- love, affection, appreciation- no matter how high up one is in the social ladder or how much money they have while Sung Jae represented pure and innocent (puppy) love. His ideals, thanks to his mom, is still good and intact. It breaks his young heart to see the love of his life wade through the murky waters of lies and deception and get hurt, physically and emotionally. Sung Jae agonizes that he is powerless to save her. YAI did not disappoint in delivering Sungjae’s agony (have I mentioned I’m a fan? Lol!) Instead he turned to the one thing he can do, play music, along with a bunch of disavowed students. It was actually refreshing to know that he had some good times with his age group doing what he loved the most - playing the piano.
In summary, this drama is different, it’s complicated. Great actors, really good classical music if you like that genre.
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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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La musique comme vecteur de la passion et de la rédemption
L'histoire de Oh Hye Won, femme de 40 ans à la brillante carrière qui tombe amoureuse de Lee Sun Jae, 20 ans, innocent (?!)et génie du piano...(merci Dramawiki) On dirait une banale histoire d'adultère, et c'est bien autre chose !!!En fait si l'histoire d'amour est très présente, il y a surtout une peinture au vitriol d'une société de la grande bourgeoisie coréenne corrompue jusqu'à la moelle, qui, sous couvert d'art et de musique, se remplit les poches.
L'arrivée inopinée de Lee Sun Jae, dans toute la pureté de sa jeunesse, de ses origines modestes et surtout de son amour inconditionnel de la musique, va provoquer un électrochoc en la personne de Oh Hye Won, captivée dès le premier moment, qui va se rappeler qu'avant elle aussi était musicienne et qui va se trouver à la croisée des chemins de son destin, devant un choix fondamental, qui ne sera pas gratuit, loin de là mais qui va la libérer. Surtout ne pas se fier aux images de pub des scènes d'amour, qu'on trouve sur Google, il n'y en a strictement aucune dans le drama, où l'histoire d'amour est traitée avec une pudeur et une délicatesse qui ne font qu'ajouter à sa force, car c'est ce qui va dynamiter cette société pourrie.
le 1er méga plus de ce drama : les acteurs, particulièrement ceux que j'ai nommés, absolument géniaux, (Yoo Ah In au piano .... d'ailleurs la scène la plus sensuelle est justement une exécution à quatre mains d'un morceau de Shubert). Le fait que Yoo Ah In soit lui-même pianiste aide beaucoup, même s'il n'a sûrement pas le niveau de celui qu'on entend, les scènes de musiques sont parfaitement crédibles, et on oublie un certain violon, ou un certain saxo... )
2ème plus : le scénario, original, et la véracité de tous les personnages, bien que j'ai trouvé la seconde partie un peu plus faible que le début, qui est d'une force et d'une intensité remarquable. On ne parle plus d'alchimie, là, mais de 100 000 volts entre les deux héros...
3ème plus mais aussi le premier si vous aimez la musique classique : une OST sublime, parfaitement interprétée, et IL N'Y A PAS DE CHANSON !!!! Shubert, Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, Dvorak et j'en passe se succèdent pour notre plus grand bonheur, avec une musique originale parfaitement en accord.
La réalisation est plus proche d'un travail cinématographique que dramaesque, sobre et efficace mais là se trouve le petit défaut : il y a des scènes un poil trop longues (la balade en moto dans les rues de Séoul, entre autres;) Il n'y a que seize épisodes mais quand même par moment je me suis dit que le format japonais (11) aurait été parfait, surtout que les intrigues et magouilles financières ne m'ont pas toujours parues très claires. Mais ce n'est qu'un détail, car j'ai été tout au long fascinée par la difficile renaissance de Hye Won, et par la découverte de l'homme droit et fort qu'est et sera Sun Jae. Je le recommande chaudement, mais ce n'est sûrement pas la romance habituelle du drama coréen de base, et les scènes d'amour (peu nombreuses mais parfaites, avec certains baisers... ) sont bien autre chose que les baisers UHU traditionnels.... (ça c'est l'argument ultime, hein ???)
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