Pogues singer Shane MacGowan to be subtitled in new film about his life

Shane MacGowan rose to fame as the frontman of The Pogues

A late decision has been made to subtitle The Pogues singer Shane MacGowan for this week's UK release of a documentary about his life.

The film, titled Crock Of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan, was sent to the press without subtitles.

But after some said it was hard to work out what the star was saying, subtitles have been added for the cinema release.

Director Julien Temple said he accepted the "strange mixture of Irish and English" could be tricky to make out.

Temple told the BBC it was not his choice to add subtitles, but acknowledged that listening to the singer's speaking voice could be "an acquired listening skill" at times.

"We certainly knew that in the States we would have to possibly subtitle it," he said. "In the end it is a decision for the distributors to make."

• Radio 1 to play edited version of Pogues classic

• Stars mark Pogues frontman's 60th birthday

Altitude Films is distributing the feature in the UK and Ireland. When it is released on-demand and on DVD on 7 December, viewers will be given the option of whether to use the subtitles. The film will also be shown on BBC Four next year.

In September, Crock of Gold won the special jury prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival. It is the latest music documentary from Temple, who has previously made films about The Sex Pistols, Joe Strummer and The Glastonbury Festival.

This time around it is the life of MacGowan and his band that is explored.

His band are known for songs such as Fairytale of New York and A Rainy Night In Soho

In an attempt to elicit responses from the notoriously difficult interviewee, those asking questions include Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream, former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, and actor Johnny Depp - a long-term friend of MacGowan, who also helped produce the picture.

Earlier this month, Depp was asked to resign from the Fantastic Beasts franchise after losing a libel case against The Sun newspaper over an article that called him a wife beater.

Last week, Judge Andrew Nicol, who presided over the case, dismissed the actor's appeal, although the star can still go direct to the Court of Appeal.

Temple said there were no discussions about cutting Depp's role in the documentary, which would not have been made without his input. "He was very important as the producer on the film, making it achieve conclusion," he said.

"He is obviously looking into how he can appeal the ruling, so I think it's probably inappropriate at this point to pass any judgement on my part on that. I just know him as a good friend who babysat my daughter Juno, actually. If you trust a man to do that, he can't be too difficult a person, I don't think."

The Pogues recently made headlines when BBC Radio 1 announced it would play an edited version of Fairytale of New York, their duet with Kirsty MacColl, because the festive favourite contains lyrics that some listeners may find offensive.

The song re-entered the UK top 30 for the 16th year in a row on Friday, and is currently at number 26.