Quentin Tarantino would give five years of his life to collaborate with this late legend. John Waters thinks one of her films is the among the greatest features of all time. Of course, both auteurs are speaking about the one and only Tura Satana.
Late actress Satana’s history is one for the record books: An Asian American trailblazer onscreen, Satana got her start in burlesque (she went by the stage name “Miss Japan Beautiful” as a teenager) and went on to lead the iconic 1965 classic “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!,” which solidified her status as a karate master in action films.
While Satana’s life had all the glitz imaginable (she infamously dated both Elvis and Rod Taylor), her traumatic childhood in part led to her acting career. At age nine, Satana was kidnapped, assaulted, and left for dead in a race-driven hate crime post-Pearl Harbor in 1948. She vowed to take revenge on her attackers, and did by way of her success.
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Now, Satana’s full story is being told in the long-awaited, authorized documentary simply titled “Tura!” The film, directed by Cody Jarrett and in the works since 2017, is narrated by Margaret Cho and includes interviews with John Waters, Dita Von Teese, Pamela Des Barres, Ted V. Mikels, original FPKK and Russ Meyer cast members and Satana’s two daughters. “Tura!” uses home movies, never-before-seen cult film footage, and the late Satana’s personal archives.
The film is billed as showing Satana revisit her “innermost feelings as she experienced the events that molded and impacted her and those around her, from childhood to her [passing] in 2011.” Director Jarrett helmed Satana’s final film, “Sugar Boxx.”
“Anyone who ever met Tura Satana came away with something unforgettable. She radiated,” Jarrett said in a press statement. “She was authentic. She was charming and a good listener. She was also wildly, hilariously unpredictable, at times bawdy, and could still kick ass right up until the end. There were a lot of popular, sexy women and cult movie stars in the 1960’s, but few have left the widespread, lasting impact on society that Tura has, and she deserves recognition for that. It’s easy to admire Tura for being the sexy, groundbreaking bad-ass we see on screen, but what it took, the sacrifices she made to get to that place and become that person we all admire so much — that’s where the true love and respect begin.”
He continued, “I knew Tura, and this film is a labor of love, not just for me but all our cast and crew who either knew her or were affected by her on a personal level. So it was important for us to get it right; to really get to the core of who Tura was and express her feelings about her life experiences, not just observe them with an outsider’s point of view. Tura’s deathbed wish was for the making of this film. She wanted her fans to know everything, especially how much they meant to her. So, thank you for joining us in Tura’s journey.”
“Tura!” is produced by Jarrett and Siouxzan Perry. Cho and Sarah Martin executive produce, with Max Borges and Joseph Dickstein as co-executive producers.
Quiver will release “Tura!” in select theaters on Friday, August 1. Check out the trailer and poster, both IndieWire exclusives, below.
