Three Colors: Red (1994) *****An incredible opening shot (copied by Fincher years later) that follows a phone call through the cables across the English Channel, and then an ending that sent chills up and down my spine. Just an amazing culmination of story and imagery. Irčne Jacob is simply captivating. Full of warmth, curiosity, and compassion.
Again, the power of story is on my mind. Specifically the power of perspective. The film ends with a terrible tragedy. Hundreds, possibly thousands, dead in a ferry disaster. But, when Valentine appears as one of the few survivors we feel complete elation. We feel that this story has a happy ending, even the beginning of a fated romance, despite so many unknown characters' stories coming to a tragic end. Storytelling, and cinema is especially, truly is an empathy machine.
Truly one of the great cinematic trilogies. All of them would be Top 100-worthy, so I'll probably cheat and group them together.