Indie sleeper hit “Old Partner” focuses on a decades-long friendship between an old farmer and his rickety ox—the film’s unusual protagonists. A deaf and crippled farmer in his 80s has an old ox that he’s worked with for some 30 years. In general, a cow lives for 15 to 20 years, but this one is 40 years old, living long past the average lifespan. It’s hard to believe the ox is still alive. In a small rural town in North Gyeongsang Province, the farmer, his loving but nagging wife and their old cow spent years tending the farm together in an old-fashioned way.

There is something special about the way the elderly farmer treats his ox. He collects special fodder by hand and refuses to use pesticides for fear of hurting his beloved animal. And he insists on his traditional way of getting his ox to drag the plow through the fields, even though he knows a tractor will help produce more crops with greater convenience. With his ox, the farmer is not worried about poverty or aging. The ox, for its part, has served his master faithfully for decades, hauling loads of firewood and dragging the plow, rain or shine, never leaving the master’s side. The ox quietly endures a torrential rain under the collapsed roof not to wake up his master, and even follows him without resistance for a cattle market. The animal’s love and loyalty to his owner is deeper and more trusting than that of any other human being. One day, a local veterinarian informs the farmer that his life-long friend will die soon. Having lived together for an unbelievably long time, the old man cannot imagine his life without the devoted ox. The distressed farmer now must say a goodbye he is not prepared for.

The Korean title of “Old Partner” is “Wonang Sori.” “Sori” means “sound” and “wonang” refers to a small bell dangling from an ox’s ear. The sound of the bell signals the animal’s movement. In the film, the old man instinctively turns to the ox when he hears the cowbell even though he’s nearly deaf. The heartwarming film calls back memories of Korean hometowns, making people think about the older generations and highlighting a slower and simpler lifestyle. Some critics say “Old Partner” is a eulogy to what we have forgotten and what is disappearing, and a collection of existential questions about time and aging and timeless friendship.

The simple yet emotional story of an aging farmer and his dying ox touched the heartstrings of audiences across the nation. The documentary film was first released in just seven theaters, but word spread quickly among movie fans, turning the independent film into a commercial hit in 2009, the year of the ox. It drew more than 3 million viewers, which would be considered a box-office success for an average commercial flick. Even President Lee Myung-bak visited a movie theater to watch it. The low-budget indie film doesn’t have any dramatic twists, colorful scenes or modern special effects, but it eventually earned 19 billion won, a 95-fold return on production costs, becoming one of the most profitable Korean films of all time. This suggests that rich content, above any other cinematic element, determines the success of a movie. The film’s surprise box office performance was a sounding alarm for the domestic film industry, which took note of the high potential within the long-neglected indie film market.