Das Boot (1981)

Das Boot is a 1981 West German war film written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, and Klaus Wennemann. IMO, this is the best and most accurate war movie ever produced. The movie is an adaptation of Lothar-Günther Buchheim's 1973 German novel of the same name based on his experiences aboard German submarine U-96, the film is set during World War II and follows U-96 and its crew, as they set out on a hazardous patrol in the Battle of the Atlantic. It very accurately depicts both the excitement of battle and the tedium of the fruitless hunt, and shows the men serving aboard U-boats as ordinary individuals with a desire to do their best for their comrades and their country.

Definitely not a propaganda film in anyway but an excellent film depicting life in the Navy assigned to a U-boat during WWII. I hope this is a nice break from the research while also appreciating the horrors of the war.

Note, in German with English sub-titles but please give it a chance, you will be very glad you did.