Snow, smoke, reflections and mirrors - truth blinds, lies mesmerise
"The truth is like light - it blinds us. Conversely, lies are like a beautiful sunset that makes everything look incredible."As snow falls on a party celebrating jewel-frosted handbags, Sarah Kim’s opening line is completed as she ascends the staircase to shield her displayed handbag with an umbrella. A low-angle shot widens, revealing her surrounded by heavenly Renaissance imagery. She is framed by a magnificent white angelic statue, crowned with her own Boudoir logo as its head.
The next scene juxtaposes this skimply dressed artist with heavily rugged-up buyers. They camp overnight in the cold, lining the street in hopeful desperation. We follow the queue until we meet Yang Da Hye. Her dialogue starkly contrasts Sarah Kim’s elegance as she rages over the phone about being screwed over because of her name. She cannot even light a cigarette without stumbling upon greater misery, a dead body in a dank underground sewer.
'The world can be kind, but it can also be indifferent. Over here, there's a lavish party going on, while over there, someone freezes to death.'
'The Art of Sarah' is a thrilling mystery that works as a cohesive work of art. It bores down into the vulnerabilities, desperation and desires of humans, and reveals our limitations in acknowledging truth, crime and justice. This is consistently achieved through impeccable acting, complemented by lighting, camera work, scripting, plot construction, sound design, motifs, contrasts, red herrings, oxymorons, and clever sequencing that keeps viewers riveted as the plot unravels.
It recognises the walls that exist where doors are present for others. Do people get what they deserve? Can they deserve what they get? One of the show’s most compelling sophistications is how it plays with truth: “People think that what they want to believe is the truth.”
So, who is Sarah Kim? A name does not define her. If you want her to be a con artist, she is. If you want her to be an entrepreneur, she is. If you want her to be kind and generous, she is. If you want her to be a murderer, she will be.
But what happens when you see her simply as a person?
She is someone willing to sink into the depths in order to be reborn. In doing so, she becomes a mirror, reflecting what others project onto her while revealing who they truly are. Those bold enough to change will see her change too.
The insatiable breadcrumbing in 'The Art of Sarah' leaves viewers devouring the series, hungry for the truth. It rewards rewatching, each layer enlightens another. In a world of fire and snow, smoke and mirrors, the truth is never handed to you. You have to be desperate enough to see it.
Or perhaps desperation is what stops you from ever truly seeing at all.
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