As the stark documentary Blink rolled in local theatres during the film festival, its sounds may not have been the primary aspect of the film on the minds of the audience members. Following the violent tale of Gregory Withrow, a former leader of the White Aryan Resistance, in all its gritty and disturbing detail may have been all the film goers could handle at one moment.

But the sounds of Blink were of paramount importance to Bermudian Spencer Critchley, who -- working in tandem with collaborator Marco D'Ambrosio -- served as the film's composer and soundtrack producer.

The composers were given a great deal of latitude however to create a musical backdrop for this difficult film. "It is a rare treat working on a project like this,'' said Mr. Critchley.

"Elizabeth Thompson, the director, didn't want a conventional musical score.

Typically the music cues you as to how you should be feeling and helps to tell the story. You have heroic melodies, scary melodies and such working to create an atmosphere,'' he said. In Blink however, the purpose of the score was to explore the lead character's spiritual evolution. "The music did not have to match the mood,'' said Mr. Critchley. Given this creative freedom Critchley and D'Ambrosio branched out in some unusual directions for the films sound -- opting for an interesting mix of Indian Ragas (musical scales) and American Blues. "Indian music achieved what Elizabeth was looking for,'' said Mr.

Critchley. "It explores a state rather than telling a narrative.'' And adding the Blues was not as erratic as it may sound to the non-musical. "The Blues are very much about pain. Through pain you are lead to spirituality.'' As the film explores the spiritual transformation of Withrow from violent racist to a man facing more directly his personal troubles, pain and challenges -- and continually struggling against his own violence - the Blues fit. It was also a conscious choice to opt for music of people that Withrow the racist would have hated. "The guy is such a racist. He hated all black people. If he knew any Indian people, he would have hated them too,'' said Mr. Critchley. "It was interesting to explore the music of people who are very `other' from him.'' A 1975 graduate of Mount Saint Agnes, Mr. Critchley has been living outside Bermuda for nearly two decades now but he said the subject matter of the documentary certainly gave him pause to reflect on his own experiences growing up in Bermuda.

"In the early 1970s, the Island had only been officially desegregated for a few years,'' he said. "There was a great deal of unfairness in the system.

Bermuda had made a lot of progress but it always tended to be the kind of place where people preferred to keep a polite surface on things -- over some things that were pretty ugly.'' Some may remember Mr. Critchley's father, David Critchley, who served as the Island's Permanent Secretary for Health and Social Services in the 1970s. "My father was deeply committed to civil rights from his teens,'' said Mr.

Crichley. "We were raised with a strong awareness of civil rights in our home. But working on the film I thought about my youth here and the complexities and difficulties of people facing their feelings. I suppose in part the roots of so much are in fear.'' While the subject matter of the film is undoubtedly challenging, Mr. Critchley said he hoped that local audiences would not be put off by it. "People might find it challenging because it is completely unsentimental. Very often when people cover stories about racism they oversimplify the reality,'' he said.

"Greg (Withrow) had already become a quite famous for his story (at the starting point of Blink). He had been on shows like Donohue and the story told was always how this racist met a woman , fell in love and then love saw him out of the movement. This panders to people's desires for a happy ending. He is still struggling to renounce his past. He's not completely healed. (Blink) is a very, naked unvarnished look at him. ...I think the movie is very honest.''