momo

1973 - the year Michael Ende's book Momo was published. Also known as The Grey Gentlemen or The Men in Grey. The original German title is fully translated as Momo, or the strange story of the time-thieves and the child who brought the stolen time back to the people. This title actually tells you the synopsis, so to say. Like the title in Jesse James movie.

Momo is the little girl in an unnamed town in Italy that came nobody knows where from and is the person who listens. Listens. And by that, by listening and occasionally asking simple questions, gives solutions to her friends and other people talking to her. They have the solutions and the answers themselves, they just don't think enough about this, or maybe not from the right point of view. Which after me is the simple point of view, so to say. I think that's Momo's point of view. Because she's just a kid that doesn't yet know how to unnecessarily complicate her judgment.

I only read this novel by Michael Ende, nothing else yet, I started reading The Neverending Story these days, but I know and Momo proves it a lot that the author talks about time and its importance, friendship, the value of simple things in life using fantasy and symbolism. Both in Momo and The Neverending Story he also highlights the contrast between childhood and adult society.

Literature professor Linda Goodhew stated that: "One of the most amazing things about Momo is that it was published in 1973. Since then, the temporal nightmare it depicts has become our reality". I agree.

Momo was first made into film in 1986, an Italian/German production, then in 2001 Enzo D'Alo adapted the novel for scripting and directed the movie this time named Momo alla conquista del tempo (Italy/Germany). This year, 2008, a Momo TV mini-series will be produced. And I am looking forward to see it.