Exploring ‘Return to Waterloo’: A film made by The Kinks singer Ray Davies
Waterloo will forever be intrinsically linked to Ray Davies and The Kinks. ‘Waterloo Sunset’ encapsulates London on a sunny day, and no song has come close to rivalling that. Still, the capital has a dark underbelly, one which Davies explores through Return To Waterloo.
The film, which stars Tim Roth, was released in 1985, and the idea originated from Davies’ song ‘Return To Waterloo’. At the time, the musician lived in the leafy Surrey town Guildford, and because he didn’t drive, Davies was often found on the commuter train into Waterloo. Across these journeys, he’d wonder about the life stories of his fellow travellers, those who were making the same trip on a daily basis.
Interestingly, Roth’s character doesn’t say a word during the entire film, but Davies successfully manages to get across his transition from London boy to adulthood in suburbia. Speaking to MTV, Davies said: “My lead character in Return To Waterloo doesn’t speak, he’s a watcher. English commuters don’t say anything, I think we are noted for not talking to one another.”
Davies continued: “The character in Return To Waterloo is someone who watches and observes but doesn’t take action. He doesn’t move into a situation himself naturally, but he fantasises about it. He’s one of my silent majority, he’s typical of many of the people in my songs like ‘A Well Respected Man’.”
Becoming a filmmaker wasn’t easy for Davies, who initially struggled with scriptwriting, which is a starkly different medium to writing a song. Thankfully, Martin Scorsese was on hand to offer some pearls of wisdom to The Kinks frontman, which helped immeasurably. During the same interview with MTV, he revealed: “I came to America, and for some reason, I met Martin Scorsese, and I just asked him and said I was having a problem with my first real script and how he made Mean Streets.”
Scorsese’s golden rule was to draw every picture, a process that he believed was the only way to pull off shooting a low-budget film in a bustling city. His advice prevented the risks of re-shooting a scene or leaving things down to chance, which ultimately was a critical cost-saving exercise.
Davies has always been a masterful storyteller, but that doesn’t necessarily mean his transition to film would be straightforward. It could have been a messy affair, but with Scorsese’s advice and a talented cast, which includes Davies playing a busker, Return To Waterloo is a hidden gem of British cinema. If you don’t believe me, take the words of Martin Scorsese, who admitted the film was “very well done”. Furthermore, Davies also crafted a soundtrack for the film, which also deserves a listen.
Watch a clip from Return To Waterloo below.
