Splendid Days

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Splendid Days (Russian: Серёжа, Seryozha) is a 1960 Soviet comedy-drama directed by Georgiy Daneliya and Igor Talankin. The film stars Sergei Bondarchuk, Irina Skobtseva, and a young Borya Barkhatov. It runs 80 minutes and is in Russian, produced by Mosfilm.

Plot
Five-year-old Seryozha’s mother has remarried, and his new stepfather, Dmitri Korneyevich Korostelyov, becomes his father figure and best friend. Seryozha feels understood and respected by Korostelyov, and the man even makes his dream come true by buying him a bicycle. As the family plans a future together, a new baby brother named Lyonya is born, drawing most of their mother’s attention. Seryozha begins to feel lonely and worried when his parents announce they are moving to another city and consider leaving him with a neighbor because of his poor throat. In the end, everything is happily resolved on the day of departure.

Production notes
- The script was written by Igor Talankin, with Georgiy Daneliya creating the storyboard (he drew 505 frames for the film).
- The two directors agreed to work together with mutual veto rights every other day.
- Initially, another actor was considered for Korostelyov, but Sergei Bondarchuk was recommended and joined after liking the script.
- Filming began in September 1959. Because the story takes place in summer, the set was built in Krasnodar to capture many sunny days.