It is still highly regarded today in Indonesia as an early portrayal in a fiction film of aspects of a traditional regional culture.

Set in the 1930s, and narrated like an old ballad, The Tiger from Tjampa tells the story of a young man, Lukman (Bambang Hermanto) who seeks to avenge his father's murder by learning pencak silat, Indonesia's traditional form of self-defence, based on the movements of animals.

In its dialogue the film also effectively uses peribahasa - maxims and proverbs handed down for generations within oral culture - with their characteristic lilting Minangkabau rhythms.

Djajakusuma, who took this project over from Usmar Ismail, is remembered in Indonesia as one of the first to make feature films in regional areas after independence.

Both as a filmmaker, and as a teacher at the Jakarta Institute of the Arts, Djajakusuma's advocacy for a cinema engaging with the regions influenced younger generations of directors to follow his example, among those being Slamet Rahardjo and Garin Nugroho.