While life, and by extension, history, does not have a soundtrack, music plays a very important role in films, whether or not they're attempting to be historically accurate. Music might not be utilized heavily, as in Lifeboat, or it can be the overwhelming feature, as in Triumph of the Will, but either way, it will have a heavy impact.

Movies cannot portray history as it actually was, and neither can text. However, one thing film can do remarkably well is call up the emotions of the viewers. Music is a key feature of this.

A note on music: Were Skinner 311 equipment working at full power, the clips used to exemplify my points on music would have had comparitive clips, ones with changed soundtracks to give different emotions. Imaginations will have to be used instead.