One of the little tragedies about being a movie fan whose chief decades of interest are the 1960s and 1970s is that we're reaching the time when the filmmakers, actors, and behind-the-scenes geniuses who made these movies so special are passing away. I don't want to turn the Love Train into the Maudlin Obituary Death Train, but I'd be remiss if I didn't make a couple of remarks on the passing of Tura Satana.
While she had a remarkable life that included a burlesque career, glamour modeling, and several genre film appearances, it's her role as girl gang leader Varla in Russ Meyer's "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" that earned her icon status. A juicy role made unforgettable by Satana's snarling delivery and imposing physical presence, Varla is the ultimate busty, black-leather-clad bitch goddess. She's an Eric Stanton drawing come to life, and her unrelenting pursuit of pleasure, danger and power leave a trail of chaos in her wake.
Varla--and by extension Tura Satana--is one of the most indelible images of female strength on film. She's not a delicate actress putting on a tough face or a fashion model decked out with a gun as a sop to "girl power." Varla looks and behaves like she could kick your ass--like she wants to kick your ass--an explosive fury created from centuries of pent-up female aggression. She's not sexy *and* dangerous, her sexiness is borne of her dangerousness.
Tura Satana faced adversity throughout her life, from internment at the hands of the US government at Manzanar to her pre-pubescent rape to her real-life involvement in gang activity as a teenager. By all accounts, Tura Satana was no one's victim and her life's narrative was not that of a woman driven to exploit her body through sad circumstances. Rather than this, she was a capable individual whose bravado and strength of character are as memorable as her outrageous figure.
I can't quite separate Varla from Tura, and I think that's the magic a lot of her fans feel. It's a rarity to see a female screen figure that is so unrepentantly powerful embodied by an actress who so fully embraced her legacy.
Thank you, Tura Satana, for being a one-of-a-kind inspiration. You will live on as an icon for tough broads everywhere.
6 comments:
The FasterLoveTrainGoGO! Zone say:
Our hearts heave in our chestS (Paul Naschy-style) at HER passing...={
This just makes me sad.
It was good to see Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! revived on TCM Underground about a year ago, and included short interviews with Tura as part of the promos for TCMU.
A true larger-than-life character.
Agreed about the passing of those great character actors. Wish Rob Zombie had stuck with TCMU, and they had scheduled it at a more accessible time. We need to pass these treasures on to the next generation.
This is so sad
I've been a fan of Tura Satana ever since I saw Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls as a double feature when I was a kid.
Tura Satana was (and still is) the epitome of a female "Bad - Ass". She was an inspiration to anyone (male or female) who knew that they were from the wrong of the tracks and didn't care what everyone on "the right side" thought of it... A genuine "Catwoman", if ever there were.
Tura was overly awesome. FPKK was definitely Meyer's best film, and no small credit goes to her. I also liked her in the awful Astro-Zombies. She gets to be more subtle.
I always thought there should be a biopic. Her early life was a women's revenge movie. Problem is, who could play Tura but Tura?
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