Oh man, I still can’t believe it. Tuesday, I saw a foreign language film called When We Leave, and I consider it one of the best movies I have ever seen. How often in one’s life does that happen? It’s the kind of movie I like best: a simple yet meaningful story told without bells and whistles and with a small number of characters. But the main reason I love it so much is the fabulous Sibel Kekilli, who plays Umay, a young mother who flees her abusive husband and leaves Turkey to return to her family in Berlin. What ensues when she gets to Germany is a devastating journey through the darkness of a perverse patriarchal tradition.

Ms. Kekilli is one of the most talented actresses working today.

Her eyes are so expressive that she doesn’t have to grit her teeth to show anger or smile ear to ear to show delight, although she does have a beautiful smile. She can carry a film like Atlas carries the heavens.

I also attended a roundtable discussion with the director of the film, Feo Aladag, a very engaging and articulate woman. What touched me most about her was that she apologized for her English before the discussion began. The irony is that she speaks better English than most Americans do. Ms. Kekilli was expected to be at the roundtable also, but, alas, she didn’t make it. But I was able to say a few words to her at the Q&A after the screening that I went to. She is perfectly charming in person.

Wednesday, I saw a very different kind of movie, sex & drugs & rock & roll, a fictional biography of one of the seminal punk rockers of the 70s, Ian Dury. This film is loud and frenetic, but that’s a good thing because it perfectly reflects the wild, crazy, and sometimes violent world of the burgeoning punk rock scene. I can, in a small way, relate to Dury’s story because I was a member of a “new wave” band during Dury’s heyday. The movie blares the bright colors, the raunchy music, and the self-destructive bar fights in the crowded clubs. One scene, which was especially familiar to me, showed how the musicians’ “dressing rooms” were more often than not the grungy bathrooms.

But what this movie is really about is a boy who grew up “crippled” with polio and was made fun of all the time. Ian’s father tried to help his son cope with the misery, but he just didn’t know how to do it. As a man, Ian expresses his pent-up rage through his music, and tries haphazardly to help his own son endure the pangs of growing up. The two father-son stories intertwine in a complicated dance of slashing imagery that director Mat Whitecross handles deftly, energetically, and with a lot of love.

Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, is terrific as Dury. He hits all the right notes perfectly, except when he sings; then he hits all the wrong notes perfectly. If you see the film, you’ll know what I mean.