影片基于Leros Pittoni的小说《铁窗背后》（Tante Sbarre）改编。讲述了一位名为万兹的建筑师违反交通法规被关进监狱；在那儿，他目睹了铁窗背后严峻的生活现实：腐败的工作人员、堕落的囚犯、冷酷无情的司法体系与黑手党的能量。

Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore is an Italian staged filmmaking of the play of the same name, written by Luigi Pirandello about the relationship between authors, their characters and theater practitioners. The story follows six characters: Il Padre (Romolo Valli), la Figliastra (Rossella Falk), la Madre (Elsa Albani), Il Figlio (Piero Sammataro), la bambina (Patrizia Ponzelli) and Il giovinello(Paolo Figna) that invading a essay by a theater company looking for an author.