TURA! The Exploitation Icon

She once had the drop on Napoleon Solo in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., but she became beloved for giving significantly harsher treatment to far rougher customers. Tura Satana was Varla, the deadly femme-fatale go-go dancer in Russ Meyer’s Faster, Pussycat! Kill, Kill!, a title with a lot of punctuation. There was even more violence. Dismissed as exploitation at the time, it is now considered a subversive feminist cult classic. Even total squares might recognize that cat suit (see below). Regardless, she had an army of fans, whose size and passion even surprised her. Cody Jarrett chronicles her mysterious life and flamboyant films in TURA!, which opens this Friday in Los Angeles.

Faster Pussycat was a chaotic tale of sin and payback. Unbeknownst to fans, it resonated with Satana’s own personal history. While merely nine years of age, she suffered a vicious sexual gang assault. Her attackers did not expect her to survive, but she did. However, instead of convicting her assailants, the court sent her to reform school, labeling her a slanderer. It is was an appalling turn of events, but it was only the beginning of her story. While the attack is documented, Satana and her family made unverifiable claims that she later tracked down the guilty, extracting her very painful vengeance.

Initially, Satana gained fame as a burlesque dancer, before it involved full stripping. Dubbed “Miss Japan Beautiful” by Japanese diplomats, Satana had “relations” of one kind or another with many big stars, reportedly including Tony Curtis, Tony Bennett, and even Elvis Presley. Being on the scene naturally led to film and TV work, including both the Man and the Girl from U.N.C.L.E. Yet, cult movie fans will always know and love her for Russ Meyer’s Faster Pussycat and Ted V. Mikels’ The Astro-Zombies and The Doll Squad.

Jarrett, who directed Satana in Sugar Boxx, talks extensively with her daughters and burlesque colleagues, while also incorporating a good deal of footage of the late Meyer and Mikels. Yet, even her family was surprised by some revelations, like DNA tests that proved their late mother wasn’t even Japanese, but primarily Chinese and Filipino. Nevertheless, she embraced her supposed Japanese identity, even during the immediate post-war years.

Throughout the doc, Jarrett shrewdly balances the wild, naughty, and scandalous bits exploitations fans want, with the personal family perspective, which gives his portrait greater depth. Of course, John Waters appears as a commentator, because he is apparently legally mandated to participate in every grindhouse documentary. For added star power, Margaret Cho narrates the film, sometimes in the persona of Satana and sometimes in the third person.

At times, TURA! is surprisingly serious and even a bit tragic. However, it is more often a lot of shameless, scandalous fun. Either way, there is never a dull moment. Enthusiastically recommended for grindhouse fans, TURA! opens tomorrow (8/8) at the Lumiere Cinema in LA.