Who suffers the most?

While Das Boot is without a doubt, a critical commentary of war as a concept in and of itself, Peterson clearly focuses almost entirely on the German point of view of the conflict. Most would expect the portrayal to be of huge success, but after viewing the film, the suffering endured by the Germans is almost inconveivable when compared to that of the Allies (the few portrayals of their ships...no negative/difficult circumstances are presented), while in reality, of course, their lives were not that much better.

This portrayal is a good represntation of the German sentiment of the 1980's. While they have moved away from the bitterness felt towards their conquerors, they begin to categorize the war as solely a wrecking ball, creating sorrow with each sweeping strike. However, in their hard look at the concept of war and what it brings, they all the same maintain that certain German nationalism: the power, the capability, the resoluteness through great. But, not all of the crew was drawn with the same courgagous, awesome characteristics. This raises the question: is Das Boot also making a commentary about the "classes"? In the film, they would be portrayed through rank and after some more analysis, I'll be back with my thoughts on the topic.