Momo, however, is a wrench in the plans of the Timesaving Bank thanks to her special personality. The time they save is actually lost to them, consumed by the Men in Grey.

In reality, the more time people save, the less they have. These strange individuals represent the Timesavings Bank and promote the idea of timesaving among the population, time which can be deposited to the Bank and returned to the client later with interest. This pleasant atmosphere is spoiled by the arrival of the Men in Grey. By simply being with people and listening to them, she can help them find answers to their problems, make up with each other, and think of fun games. She is remarkable in the neighbourhood because she has the extraordinary ability to listen-really listen. In the ruins of an amphitheatre just outside an unnamed Italian city lives Momo, a little girl of mysterious origin. The film features the final acting role of actor / writer / director John Huston. It is about the concept of time and how it is used by humans in modern societies. After she realizes what a gift, as opposed to a chore, time is, Momo rushes home and attempts to gather what friends she has left together and convince them of the evil that the gray men are bringing to their quiet town.Momo is a 1986 fantasy film directed by Johannes Schaaf and based on the 1973 novel Momo by Michael Ende. Momo finds protection in the mysterious home of Meister Hora, an old man who explains what exactly time is and confides in her that he is in control of time. After Momo tries to convince her friends of the existence of the gray men, she must flee from the town before she is abducted by the gray men. Momo soon finds out that those responsible for this are the 'Grauen Herren', or the gray men, a group of ghost-like gentlemen who alienate Momo and her friends and are somehow stealing their saved-up time and using it to continue their own existence. All of a sudden, the formerly kind, patient townspeople become obsessed with saving time and money and no longer have time for their friends, especially Momo. Among Momo's inexplainable gifts is her power of observation, with which she soon notices that something drastic is happening in the town. The routine, slow-paced life of the townspeople is interrupted with the arrival of Momo, a seemingly orphaned girl without a past who quickly becomes a favorite of all of her neighbors. This film, based on a book written by Michael Ende (the German author who also wrote 'The Neverending Story') takes place in a fictional, nameless town.

Momo by michael ende