Original subtitles

(This guy actually is Michael Ende, author of the novel "Momo".)

Are you frightened by what you are seeing there ?

You better give me back my glasses.

I am glad, that you are having time.

Otherwise you would surely travel with a faster train.

Allow me to tell you a story.

I am telling it as if it was to happen in the future.

Or in the past.

To me that does not make a difference.

It started ... at the edge of a big city ...

Who are you ?

- Who are you ? - Momo

- What are you doing here ? - I live here.

Are you a policeman ?

- Are you hungry ? - Oh yes, very much. Who are you ?

Beppo Strassenkehrer (Streetsweeper).

- Good morning. - Good morning.

- Good morning, Eliana. - Morning, Beppo.

What are you doing here so early ?

It is sunday.

- Give me a hand here, will you ? - Yes.

- There is a Momo in the theatre. - A what ?

A Momo.

What is that ?

I don´t know. A child, I think. Says, it is living there.

- A child ? Alone ? - Yes. Says, it is hungry.

Sell me something, will you ?

Let be. I am not taking money from you, Beppo. I will give you something nice.

- Come on. Shoot. - Goal ! Goal !

Come on, let´s go inside. We will talk about it.

No, no. I am not talking with him anymore. It´s just going to be trouble.

Hold that, will you. Come here, little one.

It´s all right. Uncle Gigi is here.

As loud as your father, aren´t you ?

Eliana ! Eliana !

(Shouting) Gigi ! Gigi ! There you are.

Ok, Nicola, ok. But I don´t have much time.

I got a new job, you know ? All right then. Cheers.

Gigi ! What am I supposed to do with that stupid dog ?

Get out of here !

Don´t you understand, that I don´t want you here anymore ?

You won´t drink one more drop in my place.

Cockroach !

No. Stop it !

Help ! Help me !

You see: People as they live in any suburb.

A bit crazy, but love-worthy.

Almost all of them got a job, that won´t make them rich,

but feeds them and leaves time for happyness and trouble.

Gigi has no real job.

Sometimes he is park guard, witness at a marriage,

dog-walker, loveletter carrier,

attendand at a funeral, souvenir salesman.

But most of all, he is tourist guide.

You saw it yourself. He demolished the whole place.

He didn´t. The vase had a tear already beforehand.

Did you ask him, if he is giving me the guitar ?

Ask him yourself.

Can you tell me, what the hell you want that guitar for ?

You cannot even play.

And neither can you. Cone on, give it already to him.

Here you go, you big child.

So what ? Play something.

Tomorrow, Eliana. Today it won´t work yet. But tomorrow.

A whole bus load of tourists is coming to the theatre tomorrow.

You can all come and hear, how nice I play. Oow.

Ladies and gentlemen. The world´s onliest amphitheatre with an own ship.

The beautiful argonauts captured the old Helena with it, and gave her as a present to king Ludwig the soaked.

Come on closer, come on closer. Hello, children !

The greatest sight, however, is the cave of empress Strapazia Augustina.

With exciting wall paintings of her love life.

- Please, Gigi, send them away. - Are you crazy ?

Don´t you see, that they are here for a tour ?

Send them away. You hear ?

Ladies and gentlemen.

My assistant Beppo Strassenkehrer just informed me about the following:

Unfortunately, empress Strapazia is collapsed.

I therefore must ask you to regard this unique tour as finished.

Will you be so kind to follow me to the till ?

- Hej Beppo. Where is your Momo ? - In there.

And why is she not coming out ?

She is afraid, you could send her back to the asylum.

- Does she not have parents ? - No, she wants to stay here.

Go away. Go away.

How old are you actually ?

Hundred ?

Hundred and two ?

Silence. Silence, please. Ladies and gentlemen, may I ?

Listen. Obviously we are dealing here with a little girl, that is afraid.

She has run away from one of these terrible asylums and has nobody to take care of her.

And ...

... she cannot count.

I think, she wants to stay here, because she likes it here.

Now: Let´s see, if we will like the little girl as well.

Yeah. And if we like her: Why should she not stay here ?

Yes ! Yes ! She shall stay here !

So. Come on, little one.

Come on out. Don´t be afraid.

Come on. Just come.

You don´t need to be afraid of us.

So you are Momo.

- Hey, you bum. Come on down and help a bit. - But I am working. Don´t you hear it ?

Today I have been sweeping at the old city wall again.

There are five stones of a different color in the wall.

Like a T. You understand, what I mean ?

You know, Momo. Those were completely different times then,

when the wall was built.

Many people have worked there.

But there were two, who put these stones in the wall.

And that was the two of us. You and me.

We looked very different then, very different.

But it was us. I recognized us.

That was a sign.

Yeah, yeah. All right.

Your cave is slowly becoming a real dwelling.

The stove is almost finished.

Just the pipe into the wall, and you can start cooking.

Cheers ... cockroach ...

I don´t want to see that stove.

Certainly it is slope and crooked. I bet, all her pots will fall down.

I heard, his grandfather helped building the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Are you starting again ? Come here. Crook.

Eliana. Tell him, that I don´t talk with him anymore.

You think, you get away with everything, only because you are stronger.

He wanted to kill me, you know ?

- Why ? - No idea.

I don´t know. No idea.

If he goes on like that, I might really kill him one day.

Can you believe it ?

I always paid, but he won´t let me drink in his bar anymore.

- Why ? - No idea, why.

No idea.

Here. I have a gift for you.

It shall bring you luck, when you have lost something.

And in general.

That is, why !

I gave him my radio for that.

But only, because you knew, that there is a banknote behind it.

Do you really believe, I would give you my beautiful radio for such a cheap print ?

And how did you know about the money, when I did not ?

I saw a guest putting it there, as a sacrifice.

Was it much ?

As much as my radio was worth.

So our whole trouble is only about a cheap print of the holy Antonius ?

Actually ... yes.

Thank you, uncle Ettore.

And why does uncle Ettore have it now ?

Because he threw it away.

He took out the money and simply threw it away.

To throw away the holy Antonius. These young people.

No respect for anything and anybody.

All right, all right. Forgiven and forgotten.

Do you like the melody ?

Now I am only missing the words.

From now on everything was fine for little Momo.

She had to eat, she had a place to stay.

And what was most important: She had many good friends.

But also the people were soon to realize, that they had been very lucky.

They needed Momo.

And so it came, that she always had many visitors.

Try it, Beppo.

Are they good yet ?

What is that ?

For you. I found it. In the garbage.

Read.

How ?

You must learn to read. And to write.

That is difficult.

See, Momo ...

There are so many words.

It is like that:

Sometimes you have

a very long street ahead of you.

You think, it is so terribly long.

You can never make it.

Yes, you think that.

And you begin to hurry. And you hurry and you hurry.

And even though, it is not becoming shorter, the street.

It is still as long as before.

And you exert yourself and exert yourself.

You are taking fright.

And in the end

you are totally out of breath and cannot go on anymore.

You should never think about the whole street at once, you understand ?

Not the whole street.

You should always think just about the next step.

Breath

and step

and sweep.

And breath - and step - and sweep.

This way it is joy.

That is important.

This way you are doing your job well.

And that is, how it should be, isn´t it ?

And suddenly you realize, that you have done the whole street.

Step by step, that is.

And you didn´t even notice, how.

And you are not out of breath.

That is important.

F - O - R

M - O - M - O

For Momo.

Yes, yes. I hear it. I am not deaf, after all.

Shall I bring it upstairs ? I think, the soup is ok, Mr. Fusi.

No, I am doing it myself. As you know:

She does not like strangers.

- You can go get the flower. - What color ?

What color did we have yesterday ?

Red - like love.

Then you get a white one today.

Those, who needed Momo, but had not noticed yet,

those were told by the others: Go see Momo.

And those, who needed her and could not go to see her, did send for her.

He is not singing. He is not singing anymore.

What ?

That is like a miracle.

He has not been singing for half a year.

And you just look at him, and already he begins to sing.

I think ...

I think, you must listen to him, even when he is not singing.

So what is going on ? Is she coming ?

- No. - But a storm is coming.

I am going home. I am scared.

Come on. Let´s just play without Momo.

And what ?

I don´t know. Just something.

- We play ship. - No. No. Not again.

Yes. We play explorer-journey. I am the famous professor and explorer.

No. I am the professor.

- Stop with the drumming. That is my tub. Get down. - Why ?

Because I need it.

All aboard.

- Where is the board ? - Doesn´t matter. Anywhere.

Where Momo might be ?

Momo. Momo.

- Yeah. Come on. - All aboard. All aboard.

Alarm. Alarm. Typhoon on the horizon.

- Full power ahead. - Drop sails.

Women and children below deck.

Be prepared for the worst, men.

Radar-specialists, enter the mast.

Prepare contra-fiction-cannon for firing.

It is a schum-schum gummilasticum.

For twenty years I have been waiting to get these rare specimen in front of my telescope.

Contra-fiction-cannon ready for firing.

It is a shame, that you simply want to shoot the last schum-schum gummilasticum.

Man, we are in great danger.

But this one must be over one billion years old.

Else it is today only found as microscopically small rubbish in tomato sauce.

And sometimes very rarely in green ink.

Don´t you people give a damn about your lifes ?

Fire !

We are sinking. We are sinking.

Everybody: To the lifeboats !

Save yourselves, if you can.

We are doomed. The thing is coming straight towards us.

Only men sitting in the lifeboat. How typically.

Don´t you have any advice for us, professor ?

We can only ask the beautiful native Momosan.

There she comes.

What is she saying ?

She says, her people have an ancient song, that will put the wandering typhoon asleep.

If anyone has the courage to sing it.

What a nonsense. A lullaby for a typhoon.

One shall not have prejudices.

I totally agree. Let her sing. It can´t do any damage, can it ?

Are you going to play our song ?

For eternal times

I want to be at your side

As the moon overthere

And the earth

Do you hear the silence

Do you hear the stars

Singing from far

I love you

Nobody of them could foresee, that soon a shadow was to fall on their friendship.

A shadow, that grew and grew

and already now unfurled darkly an coldly over the big city.

It was like a silent and imperceptible conquest,

that made progress every day and that nobody resisted against,

because nobody really took notice of it.

And the conquerors ? Who were they ?

Hot.

Good day.

I feel suddenly terribly cold.

Put your pot down, Mr. Fusi. Don´t worry about your old deaf mother.

You must know: Time is money, Mr. Fusi.

May I ask you to take a seat, Mr. Fusi.

Thank you.

We took notice, that you are wasting your time in an entirely irresponsible way.

I will prove that to you with a simple small calculation.

- One minute has ... - Excuse me please. I feel suddenly terribly cold.

... 60 seconds. One hour has 60 minutes.

Can you follow ?

60 times 60 equals 3 600.

One day has 24 hours, 365 days in a year.

This is resulting in a total of

31 536 000 seconds per year.

- How old are you, Mr. Fusi ? - 42.

- 42 ... 42 ... - Terribly cold.

That equals a life-time of

1 324 512 000 seconds.

That is good. An impressing number, don´t you think ?

Well. How long do you sleep on the average per night, Mr. Fusi ?

About eight hours.

That is 441 504 000 seconds,

that we ought to regard as lost.

How much time must you dedicate to your work per day, Mr. Fusi ?

About eight hours as well.

So we have one more time the same sum on the minus account.

And how much time do you need for your meals ?

Two hours.

In 42 years, that results in 110 376 000 seconds, exactly.

You are living alone with your old mother.

We know, that you sacrifice one full hour every day to the old woman.

You sit with her, you talk with her

although she is almost deaf and nearly hears no word.

That is resulting in 55 188 00 seconds.

One time per week you go to the cinema. You are member in a choral society.

Two times per week you visit a bar.

And on the remaining evenings, you are meeting with friends of yours.

Sometimes you even take the time to read a book.

You are killing your time with useless things, Mr. Fusi.

And this is resulting in a sum of ... of ...

165 564 000 seconds.

Are you not feeling well, Mr. Fusi ?

Don´t be afraid. We are almost done.

But before that, we must come to talk about a special chapter of your live.

Isn´t that true, Mr. Fusi ?

There exists a little secret.

You know about that, too ?

I had thought ... besides of me ... and Miss Daria ...

Are you planning to marry Miss Daria ?

No. That is not possible.

And still you are visiting her every day for half an hour.

And just to bring her a flower.

Whatfor ?

But she is always so glad about it.

Seen unemotionally, that is lost time for you, Mr. Fusi.

And that altogether happens to result in the considerable sum of ...

Miss Daria ...

27 594 000 seconds.

And if we now add your habit of sitting every day half an hour at the window,

before you go to sleep. To think about the past day.

Then we are having again a negative sum of

27 594 000 seconds.

And that is resulting in

1 324 512 000 seconds.

To be precise.

So, my dear Fusi,

that is the balance of your 42 years.

Zero comma zero.

Alarming.

As you see: You already spent your entire life-time.

Would it not be better, if you would begin to save ?

Yes, I would like to. What do I need to do ?

Surely you know how to save time, my dear.

And the time, that I am going to save. Do I need to deposit it somewhere ?

And if so, where ? Which bank ?

Don´t worry about that.

That you can leave confidently to us.

You can be sure, that we won´t lose

the tiniest little bit of your saved time.

Here.

This one is beautiful, isn´t it ?

Mr. Fusi ? What is it ? You look real pale.

Are you not feeling well ?

What ... what is going on ?

Why do I have this ?

What is going on ? Was anybody here ?

No, nobody. I didn´t see anybody.

Where have you been all the time ?

Hopp, hopp, hopp. Time is money.

We don´t have any time to waste.

Keep that in mind once and for all: Time is money. You understand ?

They didn´t have any yellow flower in the shop. So I went out searching for one.

- You wanted to have a yellow one today, didn´t you ? - Throw it away.

- Throw it away ? Why ? - Throw it away.

- Why ? - Throw it away !

- And bring the soup upstairs. - But ...

Bring it upstairs now ! Get out of my sight.

- Why me ? - Get out already !

And be quick.

Hurry ! Hurry ! Time is money.

Do you understand ?

That is, what it is all about.

Time is money.

Fusi was not the only one to become acquainted with these strange grey men.

They wandered around the big city in growing numbers

always appearing to be very busy.

They had plans with the time of the people.

- Elaborate and long term plans. - It´s all occupied.

- But there is nobody inside. - That is not of your business.

For you my bar is all occupied. You just drive away my customers.

And from that one glass of cheap red wine, that you are drinking, I cannot pay the rent.

So: Get out of here.

If it would be Fusi alone, I would just think, the man has gone a bit crazy.

But Nino has started in the same way already.

It´s becoming more and more. Every day.

I am asking myself, if there exists something like ...

Contagious madness.

Sure.

It must be something like an epidemic.

They are being devoured by the time, they don´t have.

Oh, that is bad.

But then we need to help our friends, don´t we ?

- You know, Momo ... - Be quiet !

- Ah, leave me alone. - Bloody drunkard.

I already wanted to visit you,

but I don´t have time anymore for such private business.

We knock a new storey on top every day. It is all organized.

Soul-silos.

I am an honest mason.

Always have been. An honest mason.

Have always been proud of my work.

But now: Much too much sand in the mortar.

That will last four or five years. Then it will all break down.

Just needs one to cough ...

But well. What shall I do ?

I get my money.

But as soon as I have enough, I will stop with that crap.

Going to do something different with my life.

All right.

I will come tomorrow. And then I will tell you everything.

Or the day after tomorrow.

Yes, I will do that. Sure. Believe me.

I promise.

I swear.

The child has visited me. And I have been talking

and talking like a waterfall.

All the work, the hustling, earning money.

It was like a big knot in my breast.

But this child ...

just sitting there, looking at me and listening, and suddenly it loosened.

The knot.

Disappeared.

Strange.

- I thought, we must visit you more often again.

Ssshh.

Don´t you agree ?

Are you dying your hair ?

Nino, we are coming.

- Here we are again. - Yeah, yeah.

This one is on the house.

And in this way Momo got her old friends back, one by one.

By doing so, she got in the ways of the grey men.

And that, they could not tolerate.

So they needed to take action.

Hello ?

Hello. I am Bibi-girl, the perfect doll.

- Good day. - Hello. I am Bibi-girl, the perfect doll.

Hello, my name is Momo.

I am yours. Everybody will envy you for me.

I want more things.

I am Bibi-girl, the perfect doll.

Here.

You are free to take, whatever you like.

I am yours. Everybody will envy you for me.

I want more things.

I rather think, somebody forgot you here.

I - want - more - things.

Listen.

It´s just not possible to play this way.

You are just saying the same things all the time.

No. You are certainly not mine.

Hello. I am Bibi-girl, the perfect doll.

And I don´t want you at all.

Please accept my apologies.

What a nice doll you have.

But it seems to me, that you are not really glad about her.

Shall I show you how to play with such a fabulous doll, my dear ?

I - want - more - things.

You see ? She is even telling it herself.

You will need to offer her something, you understand ?

If you want to have a nice playmate.

First of all, she needs a lot of clothes.

Here we have, for example,

a delightful evening dress.

A beautiful necklace

and a funny morning robe.

A lined ski dress, a tennis dress,

A bathing costume, a silk night dress.

Well. That should be enough for the beginning.

With that, you should be able to play for a while.

But maybe you will soon be bored by that as well.

And therefore I brought some more toys for your doll.

An iron, a telephone, a puppet-TV, a purse, a camera, and here:

This wonderful guitar.

Playing all by itself, just press the button.

But now I have a very special surprise left for you.

Because here we have a proper companion for Bibi-girl.

His name is Bubi-boy.

And he has a lot of clothes and toys as well.

And if all that is becoming boring too, then we have a lot of friends of Bibi-girl.

There is Rosie-girl and Cosy-girl, Susie-girl and Cutie -girl.

And Hippie-girl and Happy-girl, Heartie-girl and Painie-girl,

Sugar-girl and Candy-girl, Honey-Girl and Sunny-Girl,

Baby-girl and Lady-girl, Huggie-girl and Squeezie-girl,

Sweetie-girl and Girly-girl, Fondy-girl and Lovely-girl.

We have bracelets and ear rings and doll revolvers.

Silk stockings and feather hats, sunglasses and combs.

Little chequebooks, bath salts and body lotion. (Background) I want more things.

Well. Do you see now, that you can play fantastically with these fabulous dolls ?

Yes. I guess.

I am sure, that you won´t need your old friends anymore at all.

Because all those, that are sitting around you, want to become your new friends.

And certainly you want to become their friend as well.

Isn´t that right ? You want that, don´t you ?

My dear.

You want that, don´t you ?

Would you please explain to me, what it is, that these perfect dolls are lacking ?

I think, one cannot love them.

That is not the point.

But I do love my old friends.

And what do they get out of it ?

You make them wasting their lifes. You are like a millstone around their neck.

Actually, you are their enemy. And you are calling that love ?

We ... we are your real friends.

We who ?

We, from the time bank. And we won´t let anybody make fun of us.

Don´t you dare trying. You cannot cope with us.

Don´t try at all. You ...

... have no chance.

Is there nobody, that loves you ?

What are you doing ?

Stop it.

No.

You are not allowed to ask that.

If there would be more of your kind, we could close our time bank.

Nobody is allowed to know, who we are and what we do.

We must remain unrecognized. Nobody is allowed to remember us.

We must snatch the time from the humans arduously.

Drawing from them ... secondwise ...

Minutes, seconds, hours. Life-time.

All the time, that they save, is lost for them.

Because we consume it.

Usurp it, suck you out to the bones.

Suck you out, usurp it, gather it.

Starve for it, starve for it.

For your life.

Life-time, your entire life-time, we suck it out of you.

And we are becoming more and more.

We suck it out of you, we usurp it.

And we are becoming more and more. Hundreds, millions.

And sucking and sucking and sucking.

What was that ?

You bewitched me.

Heard me out.

Our secret. I told you our secret.

I was just talking nonsense, my dear child.

Forget it, please forget it. You must forget it.

You must, you must, you must.

You must !

He was afraid of me.

But I was also afraid of him.

And in some way I also feel sorry for him.

I don´t know, why.

Come on, Momo. You don´t need to feel sorry for him.

You are not allowed to feel sorry for him.

He was afraid of you, because you recognized him.

We have just to make sure, that also all the others will recognize them.

This way we will defang them, and they can bring no more harm to us.

Because we will keep them in our memory and recognize them.

And that is supposed to help ?

Of course. That is, why he ran away from you.

They are afraid of us.

But if you are right, we might not find them anymore.

Maybe they are hiding from us.

Then we will make them leave their hideout.

(Singing) People, listen up: Why don´t you suddenly have no time no more ?

The children will tell you. All you big people have no idea, what is going on.

Come on, you people. Come on, you people. All the children are calling you.

Do you hear, you people. Do you hear, you people ? You are not aware yet.

People, listen up: The thieves are already in our middle.

Soon are you all to recognize. That there is nothing left but these grey mist.

Come on, you people. Come on, you people. Don´t you see, who is ruling your world ?

Do you hear, you people. Do you hear, you people ? You are not aware yet.

Come to the theatre on Sunday, and everything will be revealed.

Because the children can tell, who really is behind all this.

Come on you people. Listen up, you people. Come on, you people. Come on, you people.

Your time is being stolen, by the grey men.

Come on you people. Listen up, you people. Come on, you people. Come on, you people.

We know, what needs to be done, and we gladly tell you.

- Bye, Momo. - Good-bye, Momo.

- What a pity. - Really nobody showed up.

You really cannot rely on grown-ups.

I never trusted them, but now I don´t like them anymore at all.

Come on, Momo. Don´t be sad.

We just come up with something new.

A new game, ok ?

That was no game.

Yeah, ok, you are right.

But I have to go now. Let´s talk tomorrow, right ?

Got a new job. Nightwatch at the car dump.

Are you also leaving ?

I have to.

But why ? It is sunday.

It´s an exception, they said.

I would be glad, if you would stay here today.

Me too. But I have to ...

It´s an exception, they said.

Good-bye, Momo. See you tomorrow.

All right. That´s it for today. Midnight. Let´s go home.

Hej, Beppo. What´s up ? Are you not coming with us ?

I need to rest a bit. Just a second.

- Just go ahead. - If you say so. All right then.

The supreme court is calling agent BLW-553-x. Please step forward.

You are agent BLW-553-x ?

Yes, supreme court.

Since when are you existing ?

Exactly 11 years, 3 months, 6 days, 8 hours, 33 minutes, and - by cigar´s length -

18 seconds, precisely.

Are you aware of the fact, that there is a great number of children in this town,

who today walked the streets with posters and boards,

with the intention to invite the whole town and reveal our existence ?

I am aware of the fact, supreme court.

How do you explain the fact, that these children

know precisely, who we are and what we are planning.

I cannot explain that.

Why are you lying ?

Uhm ... it is ... uhm ...

Habit of profession, supreme court.

You won´t deny, that you told a child the truth about us, do you ?

We are only interested in the result.

Whatever you had in mind doesn´t matter to us.

You have betrayed us.

You have betrayed us. You have told this child

some of our most important secrets.

Children are our natural enemies. If it was not for them,

the human race were already entirely in our hand.

We need every hour, minute, second.

Of the whole of human kind.

Our aim is ... is ...

World domination.

Do you plead guilty ?

Yes, supreme court.

But believe me. I cannot explain, ...

how that ... could possibly happen.

And therefore I am asking the supreme court

to acknowledge the mitigating circumstance, that I was indeed bewitched.

You are not facing a human court here, but our own kind.

But I agree nevertheless, that we will have to deal with this strange child.

What was the name ?

Momo.

Mo-

-mo.

Girl or boy ?

A girl.

Address ?

Amphitheatre.

That is good.

Very good.

You can rest assured, defendant, that this child won´t do harm to us again.

That might comfort you, when we are now immediately passing sentence.

- Guilty. - Guilty.

The unanimous sentence in the case of agent BLW-553-x is high treason.

Our law is commanding, that you are immediately to be deprived of any time.

Please: Mercy.

Compassion.

Pity.

Pity. Mercy. Pity.

Pity. Pity.

Pity.

Oh, where are you coming from ?

What do you want from me ?

"Come with me"

Come with me.

Whom are you talking to ?

Me ?

"Come with me"

I think, she really is talking with me.

Oh my god. My god.

I came too late.

They already took her.

What shall I do ? What shall I do now ?

Upmost urgency. Searching a little girl.

Age ten to twelve years. Fuzzy dark hair. Brown eyes.

Wearing oversized men´s jacket. Coloured patchwork skirt.

Resident in section RO-2.

Upmost urgency. Searching a little girl.

Age ten to twelve years. Fuzzy dark hair. Brown eyes.

- RU-5 negative. - RO-3 negative.

- Out of the way. - Everybody out of the way now.

Where are we actually going ?

- "Quiet" - Quiet.

Isn´t it great, that I am that good in reading already ?

"Quiet"

She is gone. Believe me. They have kidnapped her.She is gone. Gone.

Why don´t you believe me ?

Look. My finger is burnt. I burnt my finger.

Look. Just look. Why don´t you believe me ?

With the match.

- Beppo ... - The grey men are real. We must do something. Now !

They have found her. They will kill her. Why are you laughing ?

Beppo, stop it !

Maybe she just went for a walk.

She is doing that all the time. You don´t need to get so excited.

And the cars ?

The cars. A lot of grey cars.

And the mattress was all turned over. I am going to see the police.

They will bring her back to the asylum.

Children, that roam about, are ending up behind bars.

No, no, Beppo. I wouldn´t want to be in your place,

when the police is coming tomorrow to bring Momo to the orphanage.

And she is looking at you one last time.

One last time.

Shall I tell you something ? Tomorrow morning everyhting will look different.

And we will laugh about the whole nonsense.

You, me and Momo. All three of us.

Beppo !

Beppo, stay here !

Bepp ...

But you must believe me, inspector, sir. I saw them myself. Out there on the dump.

One, they made disappear into the thin air.

And now they want to do the same to Momo.

All right then. Would you please breath on me ?

Why, please ?

Come on, man. Don´t ask. Breath on me.

No, you are not drunk.

No, never have been. Why should I get drunk ?

What is it about all that crap ?

Do you think the police so stupid to believe in such fairy tales ?

Yes.

Oh, I am sorry.

Sorry. That was not, what I meant.

I don´t care, what you meant. I am not interested.

This old man is crazy.

We will need to find out, if he is a threat to the public.

Discharged.

Thank you, sir.

ZY positive, ZY positive.

Concentration on sections ZY-1,2,3,4 ...

- Z ... 1 ... 2 ... Z ... - ZZ-3 positive !

- ZZ-3 positive ! - Sighting of the searched object.

- ZZ-3 positive. - ZZ-3 ...

- ZY positive ... ZY positive ... - Concentration on section ZY ...

There she is ! Go faster !

But we are already driving as fast as possible.

It looks like we are not driving at all.

It is like driving against a cotton wool wall.

Driving me mad.

Y-1,2 ...

"Never-alley"

Turtle, turtle ! Wait for me !

Help me, turtle !

I cannot make it.

"Go backwards"

Wonderful. It´s working.

It´s working. It´s really working.

The girl Momo has left the sphere of time.

What a nonsense. No human can do that.

- But is a fact. - He is right. Would you please notice ...

- Please, gentlemen, understand ... - You all know, whom I am talking about.

We are talking about the so-called "Master Hora".

"The Nowhere-house"

Welcome in the Nowhere-house.

Allow me to introduce myself: I am Master Hora.

Secundus Minutius Hora.

Good day. I am Momo.

I know. I have been expecting you. You have come unusually on time.

Just come with me.

Oh, wait. I want to take one more look at the situation.

Ah. They are talking about you. They cannot understand, that you escaped them.

Who ?

Here you go. Have a look.

Have a look with my omni-sight-glasses.

I don´t perceive anything. It´s all squirming.

The grey men. Do you know them ?

I know them, and they know me.

Do they want to do me harm ?

You can say that.

But don´t worry. You are safe here.

Back in town, they could have caught me very easily.

What do you think, Kassiopeia ? Could they have caught you ?

- "Never" - You must know:

Kassiopeia can see a bit into the future.

Half an hour, precisely. Therefore she knows, if she will run into them.

Oh. That comes in handy.

- Why are their faces actually that grey ? - Because they make their living by something dead.

They exist by stealing the entire life-time of human kind.

Oh. I will not allow my time to be stolen. By nobody.

Fear ...

... is a bad advisor, gentlemen.

One thing is sure.

This child knows the way to the "so-called".

She could lead us the way,

that we have been searching a long time without success.

And then ...

... gentlemen ...

we will have reached our goal.

And if she refuses ?

- She is incorrupt. - And unfortunately disappeared.

Yes.

For sure, the "so-called" will send her back to us as a deadly danger.

But this child has one weak spot:

She loves her friends.

So we have to keep her friends away from her, by all means.

And I bet a thousand years against a decile second,

that she will not make any difficulties, but show us the way, that we are looking for.

And all that

just to get back her friends.

Gigi. Gigi. Gigi.

When you see Momo, please tell her, that I didn´t come for so long,

because they put us all in the children-depot.

I ran away, but they always catch you again.

I have to go back.

Please stay.

I am all quite. I will sit down in a corner, all quietly, and listen to you.

One doesn´t hear such a wonderful voice every day.

A rarity. I know, what I am talking about.

Here, please, my card.

I am working with a big concert agency.

So, ladies and gentlemen, now we are going to sleep.

- Already ? Again ? - But I don´t want to sleep.

- Lights off. - But I must search for Momo.

I must find Momo !

I have the order to make you an offer.

Your little friend is in our hand.

We will give the child back to you under the condition,

that you will never again say a word about us and our activities.

Furthermore are we demanding a ransom of 100 000 hours of your saved time.

If you agree, we can arrange for you to be released.

If not, you will stay here forever. And Momo will stay with us.

We will make this generous offer only once.

- So ? - I agree.

And please bear in mind: Absolute muting and a hundred-thousand hours.

When we have got those ...

you will get back your little Momo.

Say: What is time, actually ?

I mean: Time itself. It must be something.

Is it like some kind of music, that one just doesn´t hear,

because it is always there ?

Actually ...

sometimes ...

I have heard it, I guess.

Inside of me. Right here. Very silent.

I know.

That is, why I could call you to visit me.

I will tell you a secret now:

From here, from the Nowhere-house in the Never-alley,

comes the entire life-time of all humans.

Oh.

You are making it yourself ?

No, no, child. I am only the steward.

My duty is, to assign every human the life-time, that is dedicated to him.

Are you ...

death ?

If people would know, what death is, they would not be afraid of it anymore.

And if they would not be afraid, nobody could steal their life-time anymore.

Then you just need to tell them.

I am telling them.

With every hour, that I am assigning to them.

But I fear,

they prefer to believe those, who make them afraid.

I am not afraid. Of nothing.

Would you like to see, where the time is coming from ?

Yes.

Fine then. I will lead you there.

But there, you must be silent.

You are not allowed to speak or ask questions. Not a word.

Ssshh.

Do you promise ?

Master Hora ?

That was certainly the music, that I had heard sometimes before.

Was that the time of all people ?

No, that was only your own time.

And your melody.

But where have I been, Master Hora ?

In your own heart.

Master Hora ?

Am I allowed to bring my friends to you as well ?

Not just yet.

You must wait for one entire circle of the sun.

One entire year waiting.

Like a seed, that is sleeping in the earth, before it is rising.

Do you want that ?

Yes.

Then sleep.

Sleep.

And one,

two, three, four,

and one,

two, three, four, ...

- One, two ... - Turn, please.

three, four, and one, two, three, four.

- And watch your arms. - And one, two,

- three, four, and ... - Ok ?

one, two, three, four, and one,

- two, three, four - Take the shoulders in a bit.

And one, two, three, four, and ...

Let´s go. Take your positions.

Isn´t that a fantastic surprise ? Isn´t that fabulous ?

- I bet, you didn´t expect that. - (Singing) We sweet Momos

Have been so sourly

Now we are with all our hearts ...

Get out of here ! At once !

Get out ! All of you ! Out !

Nonsense.

This whole show is stupid nonsense.

Such a rubbish.

These dollies have nothing whatsoever to do with my life.

Cancel the show.

But the broadcasting is all fixed up.

- You can´t just ... - I said: Cancel it !

And what do you want to tell the press ?

All right.

I will do this damn show.

But then I will tell the people, what is going on.

What is going on with Momo.

The whole world will hear, that she is disappeared.

And now get out of here ! Out !

Out ! Get out already !

You too ! Out, all of you !

I don´t want to see you anymore !

Get out !

What you are planning to do, does not please us.

Be good and let it be ! Yes ?

Until now, you have not had the pleasure to meet us in person.

But you are ours for quite some time already.

From head to toe.

(Laughing) Just say, you didn´t know that.

Let it be. We mean it well.

I won´t let it be.

I won´t take anymore orders.

I am not the little unknown

Gigi Tourist-guide anymore.

I am Girolamo, the big TV star.

You are a blow up doll.

We inflated you. And if you make trouble,

we will let the air out of you.

Or do you seriously believe, that your petty talent

brought you, where you are now ?

Poor, little Gigi.

You will always be a dreamer.

In the past, you were prince Girolamo behind the mask of the poor dog Gigi.

And what are you now ?

The poor dog Gigi behind the mask of prince Girolamo.

What have you done with Momo ?

Don´t rack your brains about that. You cannot help her.

And not in the least by telling stories about us.

But we won´t detain you from playing hero.

If you want to ruin yourself ...

Please.

Isn´t it much more pleasant

to be rich and famous ?

Oh yes, it is.

Oh yes.

I am back !

Sun !

Clouds !

Life !

Beppo !

Gigi !

Gigi ?

Beppo !

Gigi !

Children !

"All gone"

All gone ?

How long have I been away ?

- "A year and a day" - A year and a day.

Nino. Nino !

- Hey you ! To the back of the line ! - What is she doing ?

Hey ! No jumping the queue !

Momo. You are back ? What a surprise.

Why is she not in the children-depot ?

- Here. Take something to eat. - Where is Gigi ? Nino, please ...

- Get out ! - You see, how it is here. Sorry.

- Time is money ! - Yes, sorry.

Where is Gigi ? Tell me, Nino.

He is living on the Green Hill. I an big mansion.

He is rich. And famous as well.

I am sorry.

- I am sorry. - And where is Beppo ?

In the nuthose. I think.

Just go to the back of the line.

- What is going on here ? - Time is money.

"Wait"

Nino said "Green Hill".

But can you see anything green around here ?

I can´t.

Oh, oh.

Ow !

What are you waiting for ?

Come on now, will you ?

We are late already.

Gigi ?

- Momo ! - Gigi !

You are looking just the same. Momo ! Momo !

Where have you been all that time ? More than a year.

Have you been at Nino´s ? Have you eaten something ?

And our good old Beppo. What is he up to ?

Watch your costume. Let this bundle of dirt go, will you.

I have not seen him for such a long ...

Ah, Momo, the most dangerous thing in life ...

are dreams, that come true.

Imagine: I am giving big concerts. Not only here in town.

Ah. So these Momo is real ? Always thought, she is one of your inventions.

- Just take her with you on stage. Take her. - Let go of her !

I don´t want this pack to get hold on you, too.

Come, get in.

Drive her to the Green Hill. And take care, that ...

I am so glad, that you are here again.

Maybe I can do real songs again now. As in the old times.

Gigi, please.

Ah, ah. How do you come here ?

What shall I do with you now ?

Come on.

Come with me.

You will starve to death here.

So.

I am sure, we will find something green for you.

Stop. Please stop. Right now.

Stop ! Stop ! Please stop !

Hey ! What are you doing ? You !

Kasseiopeia !

I have been looking for you everywhere. Are you coming to me in the afternoon ?

Or tomorrow ? Or the day after tomorrow ?

- Ah, Paolo, I have so much to tell ... - We are not allowed to talk here, Momo.

- You know ... - It was much nicer in your place.

- Then just run away. - They always catch you again.

Ciao, Momo.

Take me with you then. I am always alone now.

Pointless. Don´t try at all.

It is not in our interest, that you go in there.

Why ?

Because we want you to do us a little favour.

If you are reasonable, you can win a good deal.

For you and your friends.

Do you want that ?

Yes.

Then we will meet today at midnight.

Where ?

But where ?

Here I am !

Hello !

I am here !

You are alone, poor child.

Your friends are out of reach for you.

There is nobody left, with whom you can share your time.

The moment will come, when you cannot take it anymore.

Tomorrow. In one week. In one year ...

- It doesn´t matter to us. - We will just wait.

- Are you missing your friends ? - Would you like to free them ?

- Are you missing your friends ? - Are you missing your friends ?

- Would you like to free them ? - ... your friends ...

- ... free them ... - ... your friends ...

We would like to become acquainted with this Master Hora.

Unfortunately we do not know, where he is living.

- You will get back your friends for this. - You could live your happy old life again.

What are you planning ? What do you want from Master Hora ?

Why do you worry about him ? Don´t think too much.

Just lead us to him.

And if ...

And if I could - I wouldn´t do it.

What does that mean: If you could ?

You can.

- You have been at Master Hora. - You know the way.

Let her be. If she won´t listen, she must learn from her mistakes ...

"Don´t be afraid"

Kassiopeia. I am so glad, you are back.

What shall we do now ?

"To Hora"

Ah, that is how it works. Slowly ...

As slow as the girl.

The slower we go, the faster we move.

Now backwards. Exactly like her.

Yes, yes. It is all right.

You don´t need to be afraid.

With me, you are safe.

But the grey men followed me.

But you have seen yourself, that they just disappear into the thin air,

when they enter the Never-alley.

Yes. But how ?

You know: Around the Nowhere-house, time is moving backwards.

And because the grey men are made of stolen time,

the time is running out of them, as soon as they enter the time-suction.

Yes, and me ?

You just became younger.

But not much.

Couldn´t we just let move all time backwards then ?

Only short, I mean.

So all people would become a bit younger.

But the time-thieves would disappear into the thin air,

and we would get rid of them all together.

Yes.

That could be an idea.

Let me think.

Oh.

Out there, it is all full of ugly smoke.

Like a wall. A wall of smoke.

You remember the hour-flowers.

The grey men rob them from the hearts of the people.

And freeze them with the cold, that they radiate themselves.

They dry the blossom leaves, and roll their cigars of them.

They smoke them, and consume the rest of life, that is left in the leaves.

This way, they poison every hour, that I am sending out.

They are blackmailing me.

- The ring is closed. - He is caught in the trap.

Fumigate him !

The time will stand still.

If you are not succeeding, then I as well will never awake again.

Never again.

The whole world sleeping still.

And stiff.

Into eternity.

Will I see you again ?

Take Kassiopeia with you.

She will help you.

Is she also taking an hour-flower ?

She doesn´t need one.

She is carrying her own little time in herself.

But don´t forget:

You only have one hour-flower.

Only one hour time.

Hey. Something is wrong, gentlemen.

Look at the clocks. They are all standing still.

They are not working anymore.

Even the sand glass is standing still.

- So he stopped them, and what ? - You cannot stop a sand glass.

Our cars are standing still. Everything is standing still.

The whole world standing still. Hora switched off the time.

But what is becoming of us then ?

When our cigar stock is emptied.

Catastrophe. We must return to our stock.

- I need more time. - How much cigars do you have left ?

- Leave me alone. - Hands off my suitcase.

Beppo.

Beppo. I have been looking for you.

Everywhere.

Oh, Beppo. My dear Beppo.

What is it with you ?

My dear Beppo.

Oh my god, they are gone.

What do you mean, Nicola ?

Ah. Thank you, Nicola, thank you.

One, two, three,

four, five, six,

seven, eight, nine,

ten, eleven, twelve.

I ask the gentlemen with even numbers to stand up.

You are requested to resolve immediately.

Please move up, gentlemen.

- Six is an ugly number. - Enough now.

It is not reasonable to reduce our number any further,

"Close the door"

If the six of us cannot outlast the catastrophe, then three won´t do any better

- He is right. - I am not sure ...

But how ? She cannot move.

-"With the flower" -In the meantime, we must remain calm, gentlemen.

He is right. We must work out a plan how to handle the situation.

I am sure: One of us will survive, gentlemen.

But we must handle the stock cautiously. We don´t know, for how long it will need to last.

So we must restrict ourselves.

The earlier we begin to save, the longer we will endure.

And you know, gentlemen, what I mean by saving.

How lucky, that the doors to the store were open, when the catastrophe began.

Would they have been closed at that moment, no power in the world could have opened them.

We would be lost.

Unfortunately, you are not entirely correct, my dear.

With the doors opened, the cold is leaking out, and the hour-flowers will slowly defrost.

And that is for sure: In that case, we can´t keep them from returning to their origin.

You mean, that our own cold will not be sufficient to keep the stock frozen ?

Unfortunately, you have reduced our number to six.

It seems to me, that was a bit rash.

- But this is the ... - This is Momo !

- Why can she move ? - She has an hour-flower.

- Where did she get it ? - We must take it from her.

The flower can save us.

Hour-flower.

- Catch her ! - Cut off her escape route !

- Follow her !

Kassiopeia ! Help me !

Give me the hour-flower.

- Catch her ! - Give me the hour-flower !

The flower ...

belongs to me.

Is mine.

My flower.

Please, my dear child.

Give me the flower.

Please.

Give ... give me ...

give me the ... flower.

But where is ...

where is ...

the cigar !

Where ... is ...

It is ...

good.

It is ... all ...

over.

"Fly home Momo"

Oh, good.

Good.

Ah, there you are.

Did you catch a cold from these terrible grey men ?

You must tell me everything. We have time, don´t we.

I have missed so much.

The best will be, if you rest a bit.