MUMBAI: The 2010 London Film Festival ended on Thursday with the European premiere of 127 Hours, Danny Boyle‘s retelling of the true story of a climber who cuts off his own arm to survive.

Starring James Franco as real-life survivor Aron Ralston, a majority portion of the film is set in a tight, claustrophobic space between rock faces and focuses on the mountaineer as he struggles to free his arm crushed under a boulder. As exhaustion and desperation set in throughout the five-day ordeal, the action builds towards the grisly point of no return.

Franco described the story as "an incredible example of human will." He said that Boyle had pushed him hard to make his performance as authentic as possible. I didn‘t cut my own arm off. But Danny does like to push the boundaries a bit, or push his actors."

The premiere brought down the curtain down on the annual festival that this year screened as many as 201 feature films and 112 shorts from 68 countries.

Boyle received a lifetime achievement award.