The Art of Sarah

Presentation

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Overview

Synopsis

Sarah Kim is a mysterious figure at the head of the Asian branch of a luxurious brand. One day, she gets involved in a bizarre murder case. Mu Gyeong is the detective on the case. While investigating, he uncovers Sarah’s real identity.

My Opinion (No Spoiler)

The Art of Sarah surprised me so much! I didn’t expect to be that immersed in the story. The pace is really good and there are many twists that turn the story upside down every time. Each episode ends with a cliffhanger that makes you want to see what’s coming next. The narration is brilliant because we uncover Sarah Kim’s life through the testimonies of those who knew her. I particularly enjoyed the play on identities regarding Shin Hye Sun’s character. She has so many faces that it’s impossible to know who she truly is. The reflection on how to define a luxurious product and a fraud are super interesting as well. All in all, this drama may be quite short, but it’s suspenseful, well-written and intelligent. Highly recommend it!

Analysis

• The brilliant narration
• Who is Sarah Kim?
• The definition of luxury
• A real fraud?
• The real-life story behind the drama

The brilliant narration: The Art of Sarah unveils its intricate plot using a clever narrative method. You’re put in the shoes of the detective on the case, Park Mu Gyeong (Lee Jun Hyuk), and gradually put puzzles pieces together. He – and viewers to a broader extent – follow the trail of evidence through testimonies of people who’ve met Sarah Kim (Shin Hye Sun) at different moments of her life. The story starts with her former best friend and partner, Nox’ CEO Jeong Yeo Jin (Park Bo Kyung), then Sarah’s lover Kang Ji Hwon (Kim Jae Won) is interrogated followed by her husband Hong Seong Shin (Jung Jin Young), her former colleagues, Chairwoman Choi Chae U (Bae Jong Ok) and Sarah Kim herself at the end. At some point, even Mu Gyeong becomes part of the narration and completes the whole picture. This type of storytelling creates suspense and allows for a good number of cliffhangers at the end of each episode, always bringing a new twist to the storyline.

Who is Sarah Kim? This question is the red thread of the drama. From the very beginning until the last minute of the show, characters and the audience wonder who Sarah Kim truly is. There’s a real play on identity, as the female lead has had at least four different names. Each is associated with a new life, new events and encounters. These identities are so intricately intertwined that it’s almost impossible to sort out the truth. I guess the real answer is that she’s every woman she’s pretended to be, while never truly being either of them. She first started as Du Ah, a struggling and poor employee of a luxury shop, drowning in debt and overwhelmed by unlucky events. As Du Ah, the female lead sets up a luxury item scam that is the premise to her greater fraud as Sarah Kim. That’s also the point of no return for her. She lets go of her identity as Du Ah and starts her journey as a mysterious and undecipherable woman. When her scam comes to light, Du Ah ends her life. She then reappears as Eun Jae, the wife of a gangster. She strikes a deal with him, donates her kidney to save his life in exchange for money. She then vanishes and returns as Sarah Kim, the regional manager of the luxury bag brand Boudoir. This identity is central to the story, as it leads to her rise but also her downfall. When she finds it difficult to continue her life as Sarah Kim, she switches to become Kim Mi Jeong (Lee Yi Dam), the alleged murder victim found at the beginning of the show. Only then can she protect Boudoir and play the police. Interestingly though, this is not the female lead’s last identity. In prison, Mu Gyeong visits her to get answers. He asks her what her real name is, but his request is left unanswered. That’s because Sarah Kim is now X (unknown). She’s erased every traces of her past(s), so the mystery remains. The entire intrigue relies on her enigmatic identity, as much as her life depends on that switch in personalities that makes her come back to life several times. Although she doesn’t have a fixed persona, she resorts to the same methods of manipulation, persuasion and lies to create a new character and deceive everyone. She’s brilliant and elusive.

The definition of luxury: Sarah Kim pulled off a remarkable feat by turning Boudoir into a luxury bag brand, while emerging as a leading figure in the luxury industry. Still, Boudoir is nothing but a scam. Bags are cheaply made, manufactured by immigrants in a factory, and sold for millions thanks to clever marketing. This leads to a crucial question: how do you define a luxurious good? Is it the quality of its materials? Boudoir uses leather and low-cost accessories, yet no one can tell whether these are qualitative or not. Is it craftsmanship? Technically speaking, Kim Mi Jeong is an artist, specialized in creating fakes. Yet, she designed everything from scratch with Boudoir. Is it the recognition? Sarah Kim made sure everyone would talk about the brand. Is it the price of the bag? They are sold for millions of won. Is it its story? Boudoir is a brand that apparently dates back from European monarchies. All of that to say that Sarah Kim exploited the void that exists when it comes to defining luxury. She mixed all of the best ingredients to market and promote a brand and manipulated people’s greed and desires to entice them to buy.

A real fraud? By the end of the drama, there’s another question that pops up from the story. Can Boudoir really be considered as a fraud? There’s no victim technically (wealthy people would never admit they’ve been scammed), Sarah Kim is supposedly dead and even then she’s never done anything to scam anyone. She sold bags for millions of won and marketed them to target high-end consumers, but never extorted their money. They willingly decided to buy and their need to get the products created the hype. Even if you consider her dispute with Nox’ CEO, she reimbursed her all the money she owed and gifted her ownership of Boudoir, so she would not sue. From an external point of view, and the police’s, it would make sense to consider Boudoir a scam. However, there’s no evidence or proof, other than common sense, to prosecute. Again her, the legal void has been cleverly exploited by Sarah Kim, demonstrating her prowess.

The real-life story behind the drama: The Art of Sarah is inspired from an actual scam that took place in South Korea. Back in 2006, the company Vincent & Co started to make noise in the country. It was marketed as a luxury watch brand that claimed to be a historic Swiss watchmaker connected to European royalty. The watches were promoted with high profile launch events and celebs, and presented only to the elite making them rare and desired. They were sold for millions of won in wealthy areas of Seoul. In reality, these watches were cheaply made from Chinese parts and investigators discovered later on that the Swiss brand did not even exist. The fraud was kept quiet because many wealthy people were embarrassed to admit they had been fooled. Let’s say that the Art of Sarah has brought the case back to the surface.