Man with a movie camera

As I was watching this film, I kept noticing a recurring theme and wrote it down in order to try and figure out if the director meant anything by these shots, and if so what I was supposed to get from it. I noticed a theme of two sides to the same topic. I first noticed this when it showed the streetcars going down the road and it showed the same streetcar from two different perspectives. This made me wonder if we, the audience, were supposed to consider this everyday occurence from two different perspectives as well. I saw this theme repeated in a few other scenes as well. There was a scene of a couple going to the registrars office to apply for a marriage certificate closely followed by a scene of another couple in the office applying for a divorce certificate. Then there was the birthing scene that was closely followed by a scene of a funeral. These contrasts made me wonder what the director was trying to imply and what message he was trying to convey. Also, the entire structure of the film is a comment to the same theme. The first half of the film chronicles a normal day in the city and contrasts groups of people such as the working class vs. the bourgeoise, the homeless vs. the working, and the working men vs. the working women to name a few. The second half of the movie is in contrast to the first half as it shows a relaxing day at the beach and depicts people having fun, playing sports, and generally enjoying themselves. This reoccurring theme of contrast throughout the entire film made me wonder if the director wanted the audience to open up to both viewpoints on an issue.