Nicolas Cage proved he still has the pulling power of celebrity, setting fans into a frenzy on the red carpet of the Venice film festival on Friday (August 30).<br/> <br />Cage posed for photos and signed autographs ahead of the world premiere of his new film, "Joe," which is screening in the festival's competition.<br/> <br />In the film, directed by David Gordon Green and based on a novel of the same name by Larry Brown, Cage plays a hot-headed, bourbon-swigging Southerner who makes friends with a young boy who comes from a violent background.<br/> <br />The film marks a return to a theme for Cage, who won the Oscar for best actor for his role as an alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter drinking himself to death in the 1995 film "Leaving Las Vegas."<br/> <br />Poverty and the effects of the 2008 economic crash are emerging themes at this year's festival, which opened on Wednesday (August 28) and will conclude on September 7 with the awarding of the Golden Lion trophy for best film.
