Page 26 THE VILLADOM TIMES I & III • June 11, 2014 DVD releases (continued from Restaurant page) was used as a document to verify the extermination camps. Gerstein was a chemical engineer and army lieu- tenant working on purifying the drinking water to stop the spread of typhus. Through his father’s connections with the Gestapo, he was recruited by the Doctor (Ulrich Muhe) into the SS for his chemical skills. He developed Zyklon B, the gas used in the Nazi mass asphyxiation chambers, as he naively thought this compound would only be used to purify water. Through the program’s suc- cess, Gerstein’s status rose. The film unmasks the perpetrators of this evil and illustrates the thin line walked by those courageous enough to mount some form of protest. Costa-Gavras points out the moral deficiencies of both the Church and political leaders to do anything to halt the Holocaust. The strength of the movie is not in bringing out new informa- tion, but is underscoring that millions of lives might have been spared if more people had acted. Blu-ray features include audio commentary with Costa-Gavras and the BBC documentary “Pope Pius XII: The Pope, the Jews, and the Nazis.” “Visitors” (Cinedigm) is the fourth collaboration of director Godfrey Reggio and composer Philip Glass, advancing the film form pioneered by “The Qatsi Tril- ogy,” the non-spoken narrative experience where each viewer’s response is radically different, yet extremely visceral. In “Visitors,” the focus is less on landscapes and more on the human face. There are close-ups of individu- als and groups, children and adults, against a black back- ground, staring straight into the camera, sometimes with glimmers of expression. The series of faces is occasion- ally broken with shots reminiscent of the trilogy, includ- ing a Ferris wheel, a moonscape, and trees growing in water. This odd documentary is hardly for everyone. Though it is only 80 minutes long, Reggio’s decision to limit the number of shots to 74 gives the film a much longer feel. The editing is not exactly action flick speed. The staring faces and Glass’ music provide a trance-like feel. In 1964, Andy Warhol made “Empire,” a film slightly longer than eight hours, in which the camera focuses solely on the Empire State Building. “Visitors” is not quite that static, but it does challenge the viewer’s patience. Blu- ray extras include interviews with Reggio and Glass, a making-of featurette, and behind-the-scenes footage.