Meeting Che Guevara & the Man from Maybury Hill

Meeting Che Guevara is an interesting short indie film combining revolutionary themes. A sci-fi interpretation of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds set against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the film was an enjoyable and captivating twenty minutes.

The story centers around a deluded girl who is reading The War of the Worlds and is told by the 'Man from Mayberry Hill' (John Hurt) that she has to find Che and give him a letter. You realize the sci fi element when you come across an invisible man.

On the downside, there were a few anachronisms present. For example, if Che was in Ireland in 1964, then it was several years after the Cuban Missile Crisis. Another pet peeve was the Karl Sheils performance as Che. He certainly resembled Guevara (greasy hair, beard) but I think he made Che too Cuban. Sheils' accent sounded more Tony Montana than Ernesto Guevara. Overall it was worth watching and the soundtrack gets stuck in your head...

Sidenote: Che Guevara spent a few hours in Ireland on a layover in 1964 and gave a rare interview to Irish journalist (Sean Egan) It looks like some of the footage from this event is in the film. Guevara did in fact have an Irish ancestor from County Galway. Ana Isabela Lynch was his paternal grandmother. She emigrated to Argentina during the famine.