Synopsis
October 1974, the Soleil neighborhood, squeezed between Saint-Étienne's train station and the Geoffroy Guichard soccer stadium, is on the verge of living one of the most beautiful moments in the history of French sport. For now, the iron mill, the largest employer of the neighborhood, works around the clock. In a small street, a building displays proudly the name: "the Soleil Gym: Boxing - Gymnastics".
It belongs to Dédé Dufour, who in the fifties set up the gym to provide the neighborhood's children with physical activities. Once his shift is over, Pierre, an iron worker, joins the old coach and together they take care of the swarm of children, with special attention for his oldest, Serge, who he's already cast as the next Marcel Cerdan. When the training sessions are finished, the whole family stops by the Puit Brelot's bar to pick up Solange, Pierre's wife, who works there. The "Puit Brelot" is firmly established in the neighborhood, during local soccer games, fans of "the Greens" gather to cheer on their heroes around the new color TV.
For Serge, boxing is his father's domain, and even though his younger sister and brother are his biggest fans, ultimately, soccer is his passion. If he wants to live his dream one day, he must join the Saint-Etienne Olympique soccer club, one of the few clubs where future professional players are trained.
Against the backdrop of soccer fever, when Saint-Etienne, a small soccer team, defeated the best soccer clubs in Europe and gained notoriety throughout the whole country, the film looks at the relationship between Pierre, a rough, hard working man, frustrated due to an unsuccessful boxing career, and Serge, a child who rebels against the life his father wants to impose on him. In the neighborhood, live Dédé, who started coaching Pierre as a young boy, Solange, Pierre's wife, the children: Patrick, Martine and Medhi, the iron mill buddies, Pedro and Louis and Fernand, the owner of "Puit Brelot". Even though Pierre is as stubborn as a mule, each of them work some sort of influence on him...
A L'OMBRE DU SOLEIL, a story of love shared between a father and son, the painting of a period, a neighborhood where fighting simplicity and friendship are often intertwined.
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