The Treacherous/奸臣/간신

After three hours when I finished this movie, I still can't understand what and why the director wanted to tell the story like this. I knew the director wanted to tell a story of a vicious and cruel emperor and some palace conspiracy, but there were too many clues in the movie for the audience (especially non-Koreans) to understand. Like, for me, I remembered nothing except some miserable pretty girls, but I truly believe this was not what the director wanted to tell me.