AllMovie

This drama tells the story of some Italian radicals who were active in the late 1970s. However, it is most notable for being the first Italian-made film to show prison riots, and it deals even-handedly with the Autonomy movement. In one way or another, all the events shown are closely based on actual things that happened. In the story, Sirio is a twenty-year-old political radical who drew the line at terrorism and is arguing with his friends about their violent ways when he is arrested along with them. His mere presence with them wins him a prison sentence. In prison, his real education begins when he meets the Professor (a stand-in for the real-life political theorist Toni Negri), one of his heroes. The film shows his transformation from an idealist to a desperate, forgotten prisoner who is unable to win his freedom due to the labyrinthine and quirky nature of the Italian legal process.