Le cœur du pélican is about glory and fragility, about sport and its pain. It is the story of courage and the life, both banal and extraordinary, of a man who becomes great, falls and picks himself up again.
An injured champion will have to give his all to win the race against mediocrity.
Anthime and Helena are an inseparable brother and sister. When their family moves to a small town, they have to find their place in the community. One day at the village fair, while taking part in a game, Anthime beats all the children his own age when she runs with lightning speed, so becoming part of the group. From that moment on, it is his racing that will set him apart. Under the heel of Brice, his personal trainer and a round-bellied chap, he becomes a champion, named “the Pelican” and admired by all, including Joanna, a neighbour who loves him from afar, and by inaccessible Béatrice...