In 1959, a film critic picked up a camera, threw out the rule book, and forged a new kind of cinema on the streets of Paris. Three decades later, a young slacker pulled off a similar feat in Austin.

For those of you who know the difference between The French New Wave and a croissant, Nouvelle Vague is the movie for you, a rapturous homage to Breathless — an early entry in the French New Wave era ...