That is an interesting observation. The issue, I believe, is that having an average actress in the role would have diminished the impact of the scene as it pertains the overarching theme.
The uneasiness of the film and that scene in particular emphasizes entropy having no limits. The tunnel scene’s impact is heightened by Alex’s beauty, which stands in contrast to the rest of the film. She enters the tunnel in a white dress, contrasted against the red walls, and once her beauty is taken from her, she is as red as her surroundings. This symbolizes that beauty has now merged with the dark and grainy colors of the film. Her sodomy is the sodomy of order and, by extension, the world.
And it is precisely this, I contend, that makes the scene so horrifying. It is not just the act itself which is so haunting, but the subtext: Alex’s ruination is the ruination of good, beauty, and order —a critique on the erosion of moral values, social institutions, and uninhibited progress.
This notion is highlighted in the way the film is shot. Just as the events are sequenced out of the order, so too are the actions of the characters lacking order. They accentuate the destructive elements of the world. The depiction of homosexuality is interesting, as the characters are represented as perfect distillations of depravity, debauchery, and amorality. They have reverted to base instincts instead of their cultivated disposition: sex without responsibility (i.e., child-rearing), violence without repercussions (Alex's rape).
Beyond the surface story of certain events being Irreversible, the message is a grim one, as Noe in no unclear terms is telling the audience that there is no hope for humanity.
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