AIDAN WALSH - MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE

AIDAN WALSH - MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE

Directed by Shimmy Marcus. Starring Aidan Walsh and friends.

Wheeeeeeee, eagles and matchstickmen - the Emperor has landed! All hail the Master of the Universe, salute his all-too-rare originality, and always be prepared to offer the verbal two fingers to those sad, uptight souls who find themselves unnerved by the very concept of Aidan.

"He has not the courage to be a writer." - Jean Genet.

Aidan Walsh has courage. A survivor without modern parallel, his story - for all its chaotic complexity - is ultimately one of triumph over immense hardship and adversity. The fact that Master Of The Universe (a low-rent but high-quality 70-minute documentary about the man's rise and rise) won't smash box-office records or take the world by storm shouldn't deflect attention from its immensely uplifting impact.

For the greater purposes of the story, director Shimmy Marcus has opted for a factual and largely interview-based format which nevertheless finds room for several flights to the fantastical and all-pervasive world within which the Emperor dwelleth, and manages to access the rhythms of the man's mind in a way that few would attempt and even fewer could achieve.

Master of the Universe is phenomenally funny, never flippant, respectfully irreverent and deeply moving stuff, but there's no way it lends itself to minute in-depth analysis. It's difficult to explain, but harder still to resist - and it's likely to last a mere week in the IFC, so don't fuck around. See it, tonight or tomorrow.