It appears that Ende, unhappy with how the film based on The Neverending Story did not follow the spirit of the book faithfully enough, requested to be involved more directly in filming Momo.

This film was a German-Italian co-production in which Michael Ende himself played the role of the passenger in the train (who is told the story by Master Hora and writes it down).

Michael Ende - train passenger (writer of the story told by Master Hora).

Armin Mueller-Stahl - leader of grey men.

They are after the precious lifetime of people and Momo is the only one able to stop them. One day, however, the grey gentlemen enter the stage. She owns nothing but what she finds or receives as a present but she has an extraordinary gift: She is a wonderful listener. Momo, however, is a wrench in the plans of the Timesaving Bank thanks to her special personality. Momo lives outside a big city, within the ruins of an amphitheatre. 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. Momo is a 1986 fantasy film directed by Johannes Schaaf and based on the 1973 novel Momo by Michael Ende.

Momo michael ende