It is my firm belief that Krzysztof Kieslowski's Red is the most perfect film ever made. Though there are a few very nice "a-ha!" moments if you've seen Blue and White first, it also stands on its own as a self-contained tale about young Valentine (played by the always-luminous Irène Jacob) and the retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant) whose fate is inexplicably intertwined with hers. I watch it every year on or near my birthday, and even after seeing it 20 times I always notice some new nuance or detail. Kieslowski portrays the quiet melancholy of solitude so accurately, not as a raging sadness but for instance in the way Valentine takes a moment to massage her hands in her car at the end of the day. It is thrilling to watch as she and the judge accidentally find their way into each other's lives, and as they immediately converse so openly and honestly, without barriers. As for the film itself no detail goes unaccounted for in the overlapping lives we see onscreen, and the camera echoes the complexity of the storytelling by doing some amazing things with movement, reflection, and light itself. The themes of destiny and happenstance spiral together and resolve so beautifully that the final moments of the film are literally breathtaking. Only connect, indeed.