Director Richard Curtis is no lover of life behind the camera

It's early August, a week after Richard Curtis has announced that About Time will be the last film he directs. After Love Actually and Pirate Radio, it's all got a bit much for the 56-year-old.

"That's my decision at the moment," he says, when we meet in London's Mandarin Oriental hotel. "I'm trying to pay attention to the message of About Time, which is try and enjoy your life. Directing movies is only mildly enjoyable, and I think if I could spend 1,000 days on something, I'd rather spend it with my family."

Curtis, who has three sons and one daughter with long-term partner Emma Freud, seems adamant about his decision to retire from directing. That's something which might have worried the British film industry, if he hadn't also said that he planned to continue writing.

Along with his three directorial efforts, Curtis has written popular films including Four Weddings and a Funeral, which won him an Oscar nomination, Notting Hill, two Bridget Jones films, and two movie outings for Rowan Atkinson's bumbling Mr Bean.

Time will tell if he sticks to his decision. For now, Curtis is immersed in the publicity for About Time, which just so happens to be a film about accessing the past. Domhnall Gleeson stars as Tim, an ordinary chap who discovers, on his 21st birthday, that the men in his family have the ability to travel back in time. This special skill only allows them to travel back through their own lives, not to significant moments in history.

But that's fine with Tim. He sets about using this power to get what he's always wanted: a girlfriend.