"The story of The Territory deals with a group of Americans who, for various reasons, end up in a small medieval town in southern France; an excursion at the time of the first snows, in which they lose their way; how they are forced to live together for several months, and how they are gradually converted to cannibalism. Let there be no mistake: the characters of the film will get lost, but they cannot be unaware of the fact that in whatever direction they will walk they will find someone to help them. Nevertheless, none of them makes a serious effort to escape from the place which they see as an 'inaccessible zone.' On the contrary, through a subtle interplay of implications, they allow themselves to be led into a dead end, which pushes them into cannibalism. The theme of the film is the dark force which makes them devour each other. And this force (which is the magical element of the film) lies in the territory. Without realizing it, the characters of the film are prisoners of the very place where they get lost" (Raúl Ruiz, from his introduction to the script for The Territory). Beautifully shot in Portugal by Henri Alékan, The Territory is the film whose cast and technical crew Wim Wenders pirated to make The State of Things (1982).