system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5 Why do guillotines fall with the blade not perfectly level?

Like the blade is tilted seemingly 30 degrees or so. Does that help make a cleaner kill or something?

I only ask because I just saw a video of France's last guillotine execution on here.
gpt
It does make a cleaner kill. If it fell level, the blade would have to cut through the whole neck at once. It requires more force to do that. It's the same principle as cutting food with a knife. You don't put the knife right above the thing and press directly down, you put the knife at an angle.