这部电影讲述了1941年10月波多尔斯克军校学员在莫斯科郊外英勇抵抗的故事。波多尔斯克步兵和炮兵学校的学员被派往伊林斯基防线，与苏联第43军的部队并肩作战，阻止德军的前进，直到增援部队到达。由于寡不敌众，这些年仅十多岁的年轻人在一场持续近两周的战斗中献出了自己的生命。这场战 斗旨在阻止远为优势的德国军队向莫斯科推进。这部电影不仅关于战争。它也关乎爱情，真正的友情，以及从童年到成年的道路。大约3500名学员和他们的指挥官被派去坚守莫斯科郊外的最后一道防线。他们大多数人永远留在那里。

影片鲜明而真实地表现了1942年夏季苏军在顿河草原上的保卫战：一支团队在撤退途中，奉命占领一个小村后面的十字路口的高地。主人公在战前从事着不同的职业，战争使他们聚集到了一起。经过艰苦卓绝的战斗，这支团队完成了占领高地的任务，保住了团队的旗帜，但付出了惨痛的代价，伤亡十分严重。

1960年捷克卡罗维发利国际电影节最佳导演水晶球奖。 　　Originally titled Seryozha, the Russian A Summer to Remember was co-adapted by Vera Panova from her own short story. War and Peace director Sergei Bondarchuk plays the new stepfather of young Seryozha (Borya Barkhatov). So close do the stepfather and the boy become in the months following their meeting that, when time comes for the boy to move on in life, he refuses to leave his new dad's side. Their summer idyll takes place on a Soviet collective farm, managed by Bondarchuk and depicted by novice filmmakers Georgiy Daneliya and Igor Talankin in the most glowing and apolitical of terms. Though there isn't much to the plot, the film admirably succeeds as a sort of cinematic tone poem. 　　From All Movie Guide: Russian filmmaker Georgi Daneliya ranks among his country's most popular directors of satirical comedies. The Georgia-born Daneliya comes from a distinguished family of film performers; his grandmother, Veriko Andzhaparidze, was a famed Georgian silent film actress, his cousin, Sofiko Chiaureli, is also a major actress, and his mother, Meri Andzhaparidze, spent more than a decade at Mosfilm Studios. However, he first chose to train as an architect (perhaps out of respect for his father, an engineer). Following his graduation in 1955, Daneliya worked only briefly in that field when he decided he'd rather be in films, enrolling in Mosfilm Studios' Directors' Courses in 1958. In 1960, Daneliya co-directed Seryozha/A Summer to Remember with Igor Talankin. Two years later, he made his solo directorial debut, Put K Prichalu/The Way to the Wharf (1962). His 1969 comedy Ne Goryuy!/Don't Worry! successfully blended humor and melancholy, a device that would become Daneliya's trademark. In addition to directing, Daneliya co-authors the scripts for his films and occasionally works on screenplays for other directors. Daneliya has won numerous national and international awards for his work. In 1964, his Ya Shagayu po Moskve/I Walk Around Moscow received an honorable mention at the Cannes Film Festival, while in 1975 Afonya received a special award at the All Union Festival, a major U.S.S.R. event. Daneliya's biggest hit in the U.S.S.R., Mimino (1977), earned the special prize at the Moscow International Film Festival and the U.S.S.R. State Prize. In 1991, Daneliya earned the Nika Award (the Russian equivalent to an Oscar) for Best Screenplay for Pasport (1990).