It’s just been announced that Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours has been chosen as the film that will close this year’s London Film Festival, getting its European premiere on October 28th with a gala screening.
The film, which stars James Franco, is about the true story of Mark Ralston, who went out mountain climbing but got his right arm trapped under a boulder in Utah in 2003. He spent five days trying to extricate himself, before running out of water, trying to drink his own urine and videotaping goodbyes to his family.
He then realised there was only one way to survive and so he did the unthinkable. Using a dull blade and some pliers that were part of a cheap multi-use tool he had with him, he chopped chop his own arm off, before rappeling down a 65ft sheer cliff and hiking out of the canyon.
Unsurprisingly, many have wondered if Boyle can pull off a film where the protagonist can’t move for the majority of the running time, but post-Slumdog (which was also a closing film at the LFF), a lot of people are keen to find out, with the lucky few getting to see 127 hours at the London Film Festival. Boyle comments, “I am honoured and delighted that 127 Hours has been selected to close the BFI London Film Festival. LFF played a vital role in the journey of Slumdog Millionarie in 2008 and it’s great to be bringing new work here and renewing a happy partnership. I can’t wait to unveil the new film and I hope it provides a worthy climax to what will hopefully be two weeks of great movies for our city.”
It’s previously been announced that the festival will open on October 13th with Never Let Me Go, Mark Romanek’s adaptation of the Kazuo Ishiguro novel, starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield. The full programme for The 54th BFI London Film Festival will be announced at the Press Launch on Wednesday 8 September.