The movie is based on the autobiography of Horst Fantazzini. Son of an anarchist, he was known in Northern Italy as “the gentleman bandit” because he robbed banks without violence, with only a toy gun. After many convictions and jailbreaks, in the summer of 1973 he's being held in Fossano, Piedmont when he tries to escape again. This time things get messy and he has to use a real gun and take two prison guards as hostages.