Directed by Amy Poehler, Lucy and Desi explores the unlikely partnership and enduring legacy of one of the most prolific power couples in entertainment history.
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz risked everything to be together. Their love for each other led to the most influential show in the history of television, I Love Lucy.
After his family lost everything during the Cuban revolution of 1933, Desi was a refugee from Cuba and became a bandleader, an actor, and a brilliant producer and technology pioneer. Lucille came from nothing and, with an unrivaled work ethic, built a career as a model, chorus girl and eventually as an actor in the studio system. She found her calling in comedy, first in radio.
When Lucille was finally granted the opportunity to have her own television show, she insisted that her real-life spouse, Desi, be cast as her husband. Defying the odds, they re-invented the medium on the screen and behind the cameras.
The foundation of I Love Lucy was the constant rupture and repair of unconditional love. Lucy and Desi couldn’t make it work with each other; they gave to the rest of the world.
Lucy and Desi documentary offers an insightful and intimate peek behind the curtain of these two remarkable trailblazers — featuring interviews with Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill, Norman Lear, Desi Arnaz Jr, Carol Burnett and Bette Midler.
Poehler’s earliest memories, as a child, of I Love Lucy are of countless chuckles coming from her family’s living room, hearing her parents’ laughter as they watched the show.
“I Love Lucy and television were almost fused,” she states. “It was as if that show came with every television.”
But it was not until she was deep in her own career that she truly connected with it — and with its stars.
“It wasn’t until I got older, and doing comedy myself, that I really understood what they were doing and was able to see the many layers to their genius. I’m inspired by the big swings that the two of them took. They came to their success with a lot of confidence.
And, because of that, they said ‘No’ to a lot of things. They took giant leaps. They left their homes and worked really hard and just kept gambling. And they didn’t play small. They were very, very brave.”
“The way into a lot of stories,” Poehler explains, “for most people, is a love story. It’s really universal. I knew I wanted to touch on important themes — the different ways they approached work, what kind of work comedy is, and what they did as pioneers for television.
But we succeed and fail based on how much we care about their love story.”
Poehler was also keen to tell the story of how Ball and Arnaz completely turned the television world upside down, Sinclair notes. “Amy came to this with a very strong point of view about who Lucille Ball was — an insurgent or a disruptor of the business.
They shot in L.A. They shot it on film; they used three cameras; they cast a man of color in the leading role for a national sitcom. This isn’t just a story of ‘funny’ — it’s a story of disrupting the T.V. business, and of a relationship that breaks and makes.”
Another key part of their story for Poehler quickly became evident. “One of the themes that I grasped onto very early on was the idea of ‘rupture and repair,’ which is something that comedy can do really well. It’s what people turn to when their own lives are chaotic. And I Love Lucy was one of the early adopters of that genre: you have a problem, let everything unravel, but, don’t worry, it’s gonna be okay.”