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Better Man

SBS makes a compelling return to local drama with a heartfelt story and powerful performances.

788ep_2_vanIt’s been three years since SBS has produced an original drama.

After the demise of the excellent East West 101, the broadcaster was starved of funds, so much was riding on its return.

But it could not have made a more impressive return to form than in Better Man. This is exactly the kind of drama it should be making as our multicultural broadcaster.

This two part dramatisation of the execution of Van Tuong Nguyen in Singapore in 2005 is never easy viewing, but the sheer importance of the story makes it impossible to look away.

Remy Hii plays Nguyen, a 25 year old Australian-Vietnamese, living with his mother Kim (Hien Nguyen) and twin brother Khoa (Jordan Rodrigues) in Springvale, Melbourne. After his father abandoned the family it was Van who took on paternal duties. Such responsibility to provide, also saw him foolishly break the law by agreeing to traffic heroin from Cambodia to Australia.

But in Singapore everything went horribly wrong, when he was caught by Customs police -a crime which carries the death penalty. A lengthy legal fight ensued -officials noting Australia would not care for its citizen of Asian appearance. It ultimately ended in tragedy as the last Australian to be executed overseas. It was a story that gripped the nation.

Better Man does not shy away from Nguyen’s crimes, but it does try to put some context upon his mistakes. Most significantly it brings home the penalties of breaking international law and whether the punishment fits the crime.

Van Nguyen is emotionally portrayed by Remy Hii as a bright young man with everything to live for. He is confident, street-smart and devoted, caring for his younger brother Khoa who is prone to trouble with authority and racking up huge debts after a business failure. The first two hours of Better Man are entirely under-pinned by Hii’s magnetic performance. Our sympathies are invested with Nguyen as he travels to Cambodia and Vietnam, becoming entranced by culture and even a romantic fling.

Also making an impressive debut is Hien Nguyen as his mother Kim. In a role that could have easily been over-played, hers is a restrained performance. It’s impossible not to feel sorry for Kim Nguyen, as an innocent mother caught in a much larger political endgame in which she has no means of support: emotional, financial, legal -barely coping with the English language.

In part two of the drama we meet the drama’s A-list stars as David Wenham, Bryan Brown and Claudia Karvan all appear. Wenham plays lawyer Julian McMahon who is compelled to represent the case, despite the demands it makes on his wife  Bernadette (Karvan) and daughter. McMahon draws upon QC Lex Lasry (Brown) to take on the Singapore judicial system, despite Lasry’s scepticism at fighting an unwinnable case. It is a fight that will reach to the highest levels, including Prime Minister John Howard, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer and the High Court in Singapore.

While the overwhelming mood of Better Man is one of utter despair, it also portrays Nguyen’s conversion to Christianity, during which he became a source of strength to family, friends and legal team. In the face of unbelievable adversity, his sense of peace gives the story tremendous poignancy. In the hands of director Khoa Do (The Finished People, Footy Legends, Mother Fish), Remy Hii’s performance brings this home every step of the way.

David Wenham as Julian McMahon is defiant, never undeterred by insurmountable odds, and cleverly manipulating public sentiment to help Van Nguyen.

FremantleMedia films in both Melbourne and Vietnam and the Asian locales give this a credible backdrop, rather than trying to film it on the cheap. Multiple flashbacks in the second hour do make the narrative a challenge, but it pays off later.

The project does note the drama is based on a true story with some scenes and names altered for dramatic effect. The signing of the confession looks like one such example, but the realities of this saga are far more dramatic than minor massaging applied for the small screen.

It must be said that the final scenes are compelling and traumatic. The script by Khoa Do and the performances of Remy Hii and Hein Nguyen conspire to tug at the heartstrings. By the time the relevance of the title makes its point, there will not be a dry eye in the house.

Better Man brings home the finality of capital punishment and the inescapable point that if everybody had tried a little harder, there may have been another outcome.

Anything that forces us to contemplate those kinds of questions has to be seen as the best local drama of the year.

Better Man airs 8:30pm Thursday July 25 / August 1 on SBS ONE.

10 Responses

  1. If the Corbys don’t co-operate with a telemovie about Schapelle does that mean it shouldn’t be made? Should the Packer family approve of any TV depictions of Kerry? I have sympathy for the Nguyen family but allowing family members to have the final say about whether something gets made is a very, very bad idea.

  2. Yes family “were approached”. That’s why SBS is now issuing a disclaimer that the family had no involvement in the making of the mini-series. It should be pulled from transmission and some heads should roll. Family tragedy should not be grist to the mill for broadcasters, particularly tax payer funded ones.

  3. Ronnie SBS management will be running for cover after Jon Faine’s coverage and the press which has followed and the SBS Board should be asking some troubling questions. I was shocked to hear that the family were not consulted. It is highly intrusive and raises some very serious privacy issues and some major ethical issues for a public broadcaster. There is a line that with some discussion can be drawn on this but at last someone has reminded us that behind these “true stories” are real life victims.

    1. Jon Faine interview indicated the family was approached.

      “The producers of Better Man have sought to act sensitively towards the Nguyen family throughout the production process,” SBS said in a statement.

  4. @ Lizzie May As powerful as this story is I worry if it was a wise choice of material for SBS – particularly if the family are not supportive. As this is the first commissioned drama from SBS in three years the stakes are very high. What else has been pitched and rejected I wonder? It raises the important question of what will the SBS drama offering look like in the future? SBS used to commission the boldest drama on FTA – it would be great if they could get back to commissioning several series each year like that.

  5. I was going to watch this but having just listened to Jon Faine program am now aware Van’s family did not want it to be made. His mother and brother are going through all sorts of anguish at having the wound opened again. Raises all sorts of issues-not the least being- what are our moral obligations when making and watching real life stories? I have decided not to watch as a silent support of the family.

  6. I won’t be watching this, even though I’m guessing it will be excellent.
    The true story is just so horrible I don’t want to revisit it.
    I think Singapore’s drug laws are dreadful. I felt so bad for that poor boy at the time.

  7. Remy Hii is currently appearing in Neighbours and after A Better Man I believe he will be one of Australia’s next big stars.

    Just by viewing the promos for Better Man, you can tell he is going to win loads of acting awards for this and combined with the Neighbours exposure in overseas markets he should do quite well.

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