CSNY/Déjà Vu

Caught this at the Traverse City Film Festival and have to say I enjoyed it much more than I expected to. It's not just about the music, but this godforsaken war we are mired in and the footage of Iraq along with the interviews with various veterans who contacted Neil Young following the release of his album Living With War that inspired the tour is all very moving. Interspersed throughout is footage from the Vietnam Era that provides a potent illustration of how similar the current mess has become to that infamous quagmire. History really does repeat itself.

Comedically, I also enjoyed the audience interviews in Atlanta among the dozens that walked out because it was "too political." what in the hell did they expect on the Freedom of Speech Tour in an election year? Very funny stuff.

In 2006, rock 'n roll icons Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young played a "Freedom of Speech" tour to protest the war in Iraq. The band that wrote Ohio, one of the most famous protest songs of the Vietnam era, decided that the country needed a wake-up call, some of the same spirit of protest and activism that once shook national policy and changed our nation forever. CSNY Déjà Vu is a documentary based on this tour.

Being a rock star must be the ideal profession because you get all the girls when you're young and somehow you're never too old. David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young were an average of 62 years of age on the tour, but still audiences gave them license to "get down" on the stage, and generally applauded wildly with love and admiration. But don't expect the typical fawning fans of a concert movie. This is all about the tour, about why they hit the road, what they believe, and how fans, concertgoers and the American public reacted.

Writer and ringleader Neil Young deserves tremendous credit for being candid and revealing. He quotes the glowing press reports of course, but also the negative ones and even the stinging mockery. He also shows both sides of the audience reaction, with the most antagonistic occurring in the southern (red) states, where many fans walked out of the concerts in disgust, coming for the music without realizing they were in for incessant politicizing, including a song entitled "Let's Impeach the President." And he even shows Stephen Stills falling off the stage, looking every bit like the fat old man that he has become. (Only Graham Nash really looks good. David Crosby looks like your uncle. And Neil Young just looks a little craggy, until he takes his hat off. Then he looks like his age as well.) It is fun and nostalgic to see the old footage interspersed, and to follow the band as they meet people, and introduce those that affected or were affected by the experience. CSNY Deja Vu is not a great movie by any means. There's not enough music to make it a concert film, and not enough action to pick up the slack. But there is nevertheless something admirable, even touching, about their breed of 60's style activism, their belief that people are dying needlessly, and their genuine heartfelt desire to make a difference. As they repeatedly demonstrated, they have profound respect for the servicemen overseas, but don't see continuing the war as the best answer. Agree or not, it strikes me as the sincerest form of patriotism.

Sundance Moment Someone in the Q&A said that he had lost a brother in Iraq, and told Neil Young that "you have no idea what you're talking about." It was a tense moment in the very liberal Sundance crowd. I'm guessing that Young has dealt with this kind of thing dozens of times on the tour, and he chose to handle it by, essentially, backing down. "I think you're right," he said. "We're just trying to get people to talk about it." Well, that might be an easy answer, but I'm not sure it's honest. A song like "Let's Impeach the President" is something more than an invitation for dialogue, it's a political statement of the strongest kind. I respect the band's sincerity, but was disappointed they were something less than forthright when challenged.

CSNY/Deja Vu (2008)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Documentary covering Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's 2006 "Freedom of Speech" tour, which had them going back out with a purpose. According to what we're told here, Young got the idea to protest the war in Iraq so they headed off on tour to see how many people they could reach. This documentary has reporter Mike Cerre going with the band from one city to the next where they face many die-hard fans willing to put up with the protest but at some concerts, such as the Atlanta one, they come under fire with boos and walk outs. I got my first taste of the legends at the 9/2 concert in Noblesville, Indiana and I still remember how strange a show it was. At times people were up cheering, dancing and having a good time but the next song people would be cussing, fighting and throwing things. I personally felt that the concert had many great touches but at times it was just too political for its own good. I'm not one against protest songs seeing as how my favorite artist is Bob Dylan but one needs the songs to be good in order for them to work. It's funny but this documentary covers the Atlanta reaction to "Impeach the President", which was full of cussing, threats and walks out and this is probably the reaction the song had at a lot of places. You either cheered or left. For me, the song was just so silly and badly written that I felt it was a disgrace to great songs like "Ohio". The documentary is certainly one-sided in its politics but I think fans and non-fans can have a good time with it because it's simply fun. If you're a fan of the classic songs then they're here to be heard and the guys sound great. The music is top-notch, even on the weaker, new songs and Young was just mind blowing in his playing. He was amazing to see live that night and many memories came back to me while watching this documentary. I thought the film was at its best when we see the guys before the show and tour when they were nervous about how the reaction would be. Seeing them after the show was great as well. Even if one doesn't buy into their politics and even if one has no politics, this documentary is worth seeing just for the classic music and of course as a backstage pass to what was going on behind the scenes.

Once again, Neil Young, a Canadian, sums up the mood of the U.S. (post 9/11 and post 2003 Iraq invasion) perfectly. I felt uneasy watching this film. The footage of CSNY is wonderful---the elusive Crosby, the clumsy but still vital Stills, the optimist Nash, the rabble-rousing Young. The footage from Iraq is shocking. But the most troubling in the film is the Atlanta segment. After nearly eight years of an absolute failure of an administration, one which invaded a nation that never attacked us (how many 9/11 terrorists were from Iraq, again???), I find it shocking that so many people back this President and Vice President, No Questions Asked. Neil Young directs the film (under a pseudonym) and includes footage of Atlanta "fans", angered by the political direction of the concert, demonstrating their disdain towards CSNY in colorful ways (finger gestures and many four letter words). My question to them is WHY would they even see the concert in the first place? Did they ever bother to listen to the lyrics of "Ohio," "For What it's Worth" and "Carry On?" Young could have easily excised that footage out, but he includes it, which leads me to ask if Toby Keith made a documentary, and had opposing views were captured on film, would he include that in the final product? My guess is no—the right point-of-view is the "RIGHT" point-of-view, and no matter how many lies and cover ups are exposed in the Bush administration, these people will stick with them, like Hitler and Goebbels in the bunker. But I digress—this film, like "No End in Sight," "Why We Fight" and "The Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing" before it, is vital viewing for any real American patriot. Thomas Jefferson said that the first act of a true patriot is to question its leaders. And it's safe to say, Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers would be turning over in their graves if they saw how Bush and company have destroyed our country. Thank you Neil Young.

This movie could almost be the movie accompaniment to Neil Young's then new album, the strongly anti-Iraq war "Living With War". To take his message out to the people, he corralled the musical support of his sometime band-mates Crosby Stills and Nash and the documentary-making support of veteran war reporter Mike Cierre. Although the majority of the documentary interviewees are in the CSNY anti-war camp, a fair representation is given to the pro-war supporters opposite point of view.

That in fact is one of the key things I got from the film, just how polarised the debate is Stateside, with almost no-one in the middle ground. When the two factions clash as at a gig in Southern Alabama, sparks fly as pro-war members of the audience, who have paid good money for their tickets, walk-out en-masse when Neil provocatively cranks out his new song "Let's Impeach The President" complete with sympathetic supporting big-screen video technology conveniently spelling out the controversial lyric.

The movie follows the group around the country, interviewing band members particularly about the group's history of speaking out against war and for peace down the years. With a set-list concentrating on their "message" songs (often, as in "Ohio", "Find The Cost Of Freedom" and "For What It's Worth"), the music segments are strong although there are probably too many "Living With War" tracks causing some overkill on the message.

The vox-pop interviews with Vietnam veterans, the wives and mothers of deceased combatants and recently-served Iraq and Afghanistan tour-of-duty soldiers are interesting and as I said earlier, kept reasonably balanced and fair. There's also a plug for Young's "Living With War" web-site, part of which highlights new music on the anti-war theme and through which he showcases a young American musician now writing and performing after serving a tour of duty in Iraq.

The four famous band members all very much show their ages, Stills apparently joining Crosby's walrus colony, while Nash and Young are slimmer but their faces are definitely marked by the lines of age. The once pristine harmonies are also more ragged but somehow that fits with the message they're putting across here. As artists I admire them for eschewing a "greatest hits nostalgia" package for this thought-provoking politically slanted show although in so doing they really become Young, Crosby Stills and Nash.

This movie, directed by Young, at times uneasily tries to marry the main anti-war message with the conventions of a rock concert movie, but it was always going to be an awkward fit and I commend Young and his fellow musicians for at least sticking their heads above the parapet like this.