There is a heart-wrenching scene in "CSNY: Deja Vu" that should cause most viewers to choke up, regardless of whether they support or oppose our polarized country's involvement in the war in Iraq.

It comes as Karen Meredith watches Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY) perform Stills' war-inspired 1970 lament "Find the Cost of Freedom" at a 2006 Bay Area concert during the band's controversial "Freedom of Speech" tour. The graying vocal quartet's stirring singing is accompanied by a series of head shots of each of the several thousand American casualties in Iraq. The photos of the dead are projected, row after row, on a large screen at the rear of the stage.

The anguish on Meredith's face as she watches for a glimpse of her slain son, U.S. Army Lt. Ken Ballard, is almost unbearable. And that is precisely the point.

The cost of war, no matter how many billions of dollars fuel it, is ultimately a human one. That's why this film — part concert documentary, part political commentary, part human drama — often focuses on the loss of life, along with the shattered psyche of our war-torn nation and (by extension) that of the Iraqi people.

Directed by Neil Young under the nom de plume Bernard Shakey, "Deja Vu" takes its title from CSNY's 1970 album of the same name, as well as from the tragic echoes of the Vietnam war now reverberating so loudly in Iraq and here at home.

The tour's impetus was Young's 2006 album, "Living With War," which features such provocative songs as "Let's Impeach the President" and "Shock and Awe." (To ensure his message was heard by a large audience, he made the album available free for downloading on the Internet.)

But Young doesn't ignore opposing voices, including that of bandmate Stills, who early in the film calls the tour "a political cartoon." Stills then adds: "But listen to the song, perhaps it will change your mind."

Excerpts are read from scathing newspaper reviews of shows on the 32-city tour, as well as from more favorable write-ups. Some of the concertgoers who appear on camera support CSNY for forcefully speaking out with music, as the band did during the Vietnam War. Others mince no words in conveying their outrage.

This holds especially true at an Atlanta concert. After enthusiastically singing along to Stills' apolitical 1982 song "Southern Cross," droves of fans storm out during Young's "Let's Impeach the President." Nearly all are outspoken in expressing their anger, some with obscene words and gestures.

"I want to hear (CSNY's) music, not their political opinions," snaps one swiftly departing man, who apparently never paid attention to the lyrics of "Ohio," "Military Madness," "Long Time Gone," "Chicago" and other vintage classics that CSNY's members have done together or on their own albums.

The film's serious message is offset by periodic humor, not all of it intentional.

In one especially inane scene, an "interviewer" for TV's "Showbiz Tonight" breathlessly says to Young: "You have one song called 'Let's Impeach the President.' What is this song about?"

Young's answer (if he even bothered to respond) goes unseen, the better to quickly refocus on the wounded heart and soul of this fractured nation.

"CSNY: Deja-Vu." Rated: R. Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes. 3 stars.

To find out more about George Varga and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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