Origin and release year: South Korea (2023 – Maestra: Strings of Truth)
Korean title: 마에스트라
Starring: Lee Young Ae, Lee Mu Saeng, Kim Young Jae, Hwang Bo Reum Byeol, Park Ho San, Yang Joon Mo, Jin Ho Eun, Lee Jung Yeol, Lee Si Won, Kim Min Kyu, Jin So Yeon, Jung Sun A, Min A Ram, Han Jae Ha, Hwang Gun, Lee Byung Joon, Lim Se Joo, Jeong Ha Na, Kim Ki Bum, Lee Joon Young, Jeong Dong Hwan, Ye Soo Jung, Kim Young Ah, Jin Geon Woo, Lim Sung Kyun, Choi Yoon So, Kim Hyeon Jun, Kim Yoo Dong, Woo Da Vi
Director: Kim Jeong Kwon
Screenwriter: Hong Jung Hee
Synopsis: Adapted from a French work of the same name. A drama about the growth and troubles of a female conductor. (IMDb)
Firstly, Lee Young Ae’s acting as Cha Se Eum in Maestra: Strings of Truth? Phenomenal. She was great. She made the drama.
“Lee Mu Saeng’s character? We were rooting for you! We were all rooting for you! How could he turn out to be the villain in the greater scheme of things?” Is what we wanted to write in the review after the 10th episode but they really got us there. He truly was one of the most pleasant and refreshing characters in the drama and we’re glad the villain aspect was a fake storyline. It definitely kept us on our toes.
Additionally, there’s a special place in hell for Cha Se Eum’s husband (his character’s name isn’t even worth remembering) and his little girlfriend. They deserve each other honestly.
At some point, this writer thought that Lee Lu Na (played by Hwang Bo Reum Byeol) would turn out to be Se Eum’s long lost daughter, but that didn’t make sense because why wouldn’t she remember giving birth? So, why was she so attached to Se Eum? Seeing her as a role model is one thing but what brought on the seeing her as a mother figure to the point that she could feel abandoned by her? Then it was revealed that she was basically the villain all prompted by a parasocial relationship. This wa the ultimate plot twist!!! Really well done by the writers and by the actress herself.
The only thing that didn’t make sense about this drama, however, is the amount of bad luck that the female lead had – everyone had it out for her and all she did was focus on her music. Sure she had a strong personality but she was largely the victim of unfortunate and misguided circumstances in most cases.
Whilst we know that a story needs conflict (i.e. bad things to happen to the protagonist) to make a story interesting – usually there’s even a tiny sense of justification that these things could happen. But in this case she was just one really really unlucky person who everyone had unjustified vendettas against. Something about this drama just really amplified this fact.
Overall, this was yet another solid drama that had you on the edge of your seat. We highly recommend it!
What did you think of Maestra: Strings of Truth? Let us know in the comments!