A clever blend of humor, experimental aesthetics and technological innovation, Jekyllum features a creature resembling the University's logo who, after absorbing a mysterious potion, is transformed into a monstrous spider that spins its web and captures its prey…

Described at the time as a “computer drama” in “calculo-color” with a “computerophonic” soundtrack, Jekyllum uses deliberately eccentric codes. Born of the humor of mathematicians and computer scientists at UdeM's Centre de calcul, these neologisms nonetheless reflect the real technical advances of the time. The film is animated using the “cybernovision” system developed by the film's director, Claude Schnéegans, who also designed the general-purpose programming language FILEMON (for Film et montage) to enable the creation of computer animations. The soundtrack, composed by Robert Dupuy, a member of the Informatique-Musique group, enriches the film with a psychotronic sound atmosphere perfectly in tune with its visual aesthetic.

Behind its apparent lightness, Jekyllum offers a darker allegory. The creature inspired by the Université de Montréal logo could well represent the scientific community itself, and the potion, the destructive power and risks that science confers on human knowledge. In this perspective, Jekyllum then becomes a fable about how computer tools, by increasing our intelligence tenfold, can also reveal a disturbing facet of progress. 

Nino Gabrielli
Collaborating Researcher
Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur la
littérature et la culture au Québec (CRILCQ)