Julien Temple’s documentaries have always gone much deeper than music. They’ve often worked as a form of social commentary, an insight and window into a whole culture, with a plethora of themes at play to ensure they enlighten equally as much as they entertain. His latest feature, on Dr. Feelgood’s Wilko Johnson carries on that fine trend, as while on the surface this may appear to be your standard bio-doc on the life of a punk rocker – instead we have a sobering, poignant account of a man faced with his own mortality.

Wilko Johnson was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer in January 2013. He was given just months to live – and Temple caught up with him in his hometown of Canvey Island, where he speaks candidly to camera about his experiences, and what it means to only be around for a short while longer. He confronts the notion of death, and scrutinises over the heartbreaking elements, and the profound – finding some sense of solace in his supposed fate.

When dealing with a subject who has the lion’s share of screen time, examining their past and their future across 90 minutes, you need somebody with an inherent charisma to ensure the audience remain compelled, and where Wilko Johnson is concerned, that’s a given. He has this infectious enthusiasm for life, an eternal optimist who can see positivity in anything. He also has this way of words, a certain eloquence, an accidental poetry of sorts. He can even speak about watching the clouds in a way that is profound and moving, and not mawkish, which is no easy task.

Though his own history in music certainly adds to the picture’s charm, in the sense we have a punk musician opening up in such an intimate, personal way – getting behind the bravado of your archetypal rockstar – his vocation is very much a secondary focus to this piece, as really what we’re dealing with here is a terminally ill man coming to terms with his forthcoming death. His outlook on life is remarkable though and makes for an inspiring piece of cinema. It’s the way he appreciates life, all of the seemingly trivial aspects, from watching the clouds to seeing the tide come in – it’s so eye-opening to see somebody so at ease with their own end, and allows for the viewer to also appreciate all of the small things in life too.

But it’s not all down to the words of our subject, as Temple presents this tale in a truly accomplished fashion, making for a visceral piece. The way he uses imagery and archive footage to illustrate points and help drive this story forwards seems almost amateurish at first, as though spoon-feeding the viewer – but by the close of play you realise it’s an deliberate, innovative means of bringing certain feelings to life. We’re dealing with a situation that is difficult to rationalise and comprehend, but Temple evokes the required sensations by complimenting Johnson’s words with his own creative additions.

This oddly life-affirming production is worth seeing just to appreciate Wilko Johnson while he’s still with us, to immerse yourself in his world and to then feel so at home within it. At the screening this reviewer went to, the man himself was supposed to be taking part in a Q&A at the end, but alas, he couldn’t make it as he was still overcoming his Glastonbury hangover, four days after the festival had taken place. Fair play to the man, he’s still living life to the full, and who can begrudge him that?